THE 



CONQUEST OF TURKEY; 

OE, 

THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. 

1877-8. 

A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE LATE WAR BETWEEN RUSSIA AND TURKEY, 
INCLUDING THE CAUSES OF THE WAR. FULL ACCOUNT OF THE 
TERRIBLE BULGARIAN MASSACRES. GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS 
OF THE TWO EMPIRES, THEIR RACES, SOCIAL CUSTOMS, 
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS, ETC. ; AND UNFOLDING THE 
GREAT COMMERCIAL, POLITICAL AND 
RELIGIOUS INTERESTS AFFECTED BY 
THE WAR. THE RESULTS OF 
THE WAR, ETC., ETC. 
TO WHICH IS ADDED 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE LEADING ACTORS IN THIS 
GREAT DRAMA. 

Prepared, with great care, from the most authentic and official sources. 

}/ 

DR. l£ P? BROCKETT 

AND 

HON. PORTER C. BLISS, 

Associate Editors of Johnson's Universal Encyclopedia, and Authors of very 
many Popular Works. 

PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED. 



HUBBAED BEOS., Publishers, 
Philadelphia, Pa. ; Springfield, Mass. ; Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago, III.; 
A. L. BANCROFT & CO., San Francisco, Cal. ; BE YAK BEAND 
& CO., St. Louis, Mo. ; J. O. EOBINSON, London, Ont. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by 
HTJBBAED BROS., 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 




Press of Franklin Printing House, Phila. 



PREFACE. 



Deeming no apology necessary in offering the present volume to the 
public, either in respect to its subject or our method of presenting it, 
our preface is designed simply to invite attention to some facts and 
features of the work. 

Early last summer, Dr. L. P. Brockett published an interesting work, 
" The Cross and the Crescent," as an introduction to a history of the 
war then but just begun. When the time came for writing the history, 
however, that gentleman, for reasons of health and the pressure of 
other engagements, relinquished his purpose. Believing that a concise 
and reliable history would prove of value and interest to Americans, 
we have undertaken to compile and write one. It will be observed that 
we have prefixed the substance of Dr. Brockett's work to our history, 
omitting only those passages which did not appear strictly germane to 
an introduction. The first eight chapters and the biographies are 
abridged from the former work, the succeeding chapters are ours. 

We do not claim that the work is original in the same sense or to 
the same extent that we should make a treatise or an essay original ; for 
instance, inasmuch as we were not an eye-witness of the battles or 
historic events narrated, we have necessarily obtained our facts at second- 
hand. But, on the other hand, we have not blindly copied or heed- 
lessly followed the accounts of any one authority, but have critically 
examined every accessible newspaper, magazine, pamphlet and book, 
in which information was to be obtained, comparing one with the others, 
and, when ^possible, discriminating between the several correspondents 
and other writers, and between the stated facts and the opinions and 
suppositions of each. The daily press of London has been our chief 
source of information ; the leading newspapers of that city vied with 

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vi 



PREFACE. 



each other in maintaining correspondents at the different and various 
military head-quarters, both in European and Asiatic Turkey, through- 
out the war ; of these, the Daily News was exceptionally well served. We 
have carefully gathered our facts from the columns of the London 
press generally, and in many instances have given the graphic accounts 
of important battles and movements in the words of the correspondents 
who, it must be recollected, were eye-witnesses ; in each instance, when 
we have known the writer's name, we have been careful to mention it. 

We have hereby publicly to tender our thanks to Lloyd P. Smith, 
Esq., of the Philadelphia Library, for his courtesy and kindly interest 
in our labors, evinced by placing the treasures of that library at our 
disposal, permitting us ready access to every file or volume that could 
be of service to us. We also acknowledge our indebtedness to J. 
Harned Morris, Ph. D., of this city, for assistance in the preparation 
of our "copy" for the press. 

In conclusion, we would ask the reader to note that we have brought 
our history actually down to date, giving in our letter-press the latest 
news in reference to the complications that have arisen since the war, 
and that threaten to demand another war for their unravelling. 

PORTER C. BLISS. 

Philadelphia, April 10th, 1878. 



TABLE OF CONTEXTS. 



INTRODUCTION. 

The original entrance of the Osmanli Turks into Europe — They overrun fb.3 
Danubian region — Their conquest of Hungary — The wars between Scla- 
vonic tribes in Russia — Raids of the Tartar Khans — Polish hatred of 
Russia — The Polish wars with Turkey — Cossack and Tartar power and 
influence of Turkey in the beginning of the Seventeenth Century — Rus- 
sia its most formidable, and, at times, its only foe — Five wars between 
Russia and Turkey in the Eighteenth Century — The wars of 1806-12, of 
1828-29, and of 1853-56 — War the normal condition of the Ottoman 
Porte — The character of the Turk portrayed — His barbarism and deceit 
— Mr. N. W. Senior's description of the results of Turkish rule — Mr. Cob- 
den's opinions of their demerits Pages 21-30. 

CHAPTER I. History of Russia. 

Origin of the Sclavonians, Scythians, and Sarmatians — The Finns — Sclavonian 
Colonies or Communes — The lex tJAonis — Weregeld or vera — Barbarity of 
early Sclavonians — Founding of Novgorod and Kief — King Rurik, the 
Norman — Introduction of Christianity — The reigns of Vladimir and 
Yaroslav— Burning of Kief — Famine in Novgorod — Irruption of the 
Tartar Khans— Destruction of the capital, Vladimir — The victory of 
Alexander Nevski — Coiistant.wars for a hundred years— Moscow, the cap- 
ital — Invasion of Timiir — His retreat — 'The first Mint — Earthquake at 
Novgorod — The vigorous reign of Ivan III. — Destruction of Achmet's 
Golden Horde — The Russian standard, the two-headed Black Eagle, 
adopted by Ivan III. — Karamsin's description of him — Ivan IV., the first 
Russian Czar — Organization of the Streltsi — " Ivan the Terrible" — De- 
feat of Gustavus Wasa — Ivan's Code — Karamsin's estimate of his char- 
acter — His death — Theodore I., the last of the dynasty of Rurik — Boris 
Godunof, a Russian Richard III.— Murder of Dmitri — the false Dmitri, 
Otrepief — His brief reign and death — Terrible famine in 1600 ; half a 
million people perish in Moscow — Serf age instituted in 1597— Occupation 
of Moscow by the Poles, 1610 — Their expulsion — Michael Romanoff 
elected Czar ; the founder of the Romanoff dynasty — The States General 
first summoned — Sophia as Empress-regent — Her downfall — Peter the 
Great — His. wars with Sweden and Turkey — His reverses — His achieve- 
ments and death — His adventures in London — His reforms — -Anne of Cour- 
land — The Constitution— She destroys it — Cruelty of her favorite, Biron, 
Duke of Courland — Reign of Elizabeth — Her hypocrisy — Peter III., his 
short reign and violent death Pages 31-67. 

CHAPTER II. History of Russia continued. 

Reign of Cathefine II.— Vy*ar_with Turkey— Subjugation of Poland— Capture 
and annexation of the Crimea — The combination against England — 
Another war with Turkey (1788-1790) — 660,000 men slain on all'sides — 
The fall of Warsaw — Catherine's death — Her remarkable abilities and 
great achievements — Her reforms — Her personal appearance — Adminis- 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



tration and assassination of Paul— Accession of Alexander I. — He joins 
the Northern Powers against France — Makes peace with Napoleon — 
Again breaks with France — Napoleon's Russian campaign — Battle of Bo- 
rodino — Capture and burning of Moscow — Scenes of terror — The retreat 
from Moscow and its horrors — The allies enter Paris — The judicious 
measures of Alexander I. — His religious character — " The Holy Alliance " 
Madame Krudener — Alexander's death — Trouble in regard to the suc- 
cession — Constantine declines — Nicholas crowned — The insurrection — 
Severity with which it was repressed — War w r ith Turkey in 1828-9 — In- 
surrection in Poland — Its cruel suppression — The Czar Nicholas the ally 
and protector of Turkey in 1833 — The Protectorate of the Five Powers 
over Turkey — Russia assists Austria in suppressing the Hungarian re- 
volt in 1849 — The Crimean War in 1853 — England, France, Sardinia, and 
Turkey against Russia — Early incidents of the war — The battle of the 
Alma — Defeat of the Russians — The Light Cavalry charge at Balaklava 
— Battle of Inkerrnann — The Russians again defeated — Operations around 
Sevastopol — Storming the fortress — Its capture — Death of Nicholas I., 
March 2d, 1855 — Peace — Treaty of Paris, March 30, 1866 — Its provisions 
— Coronation of Alexander II. — His reforms — Emancipation of the Serfs 
— Provisions of the Act — The new courts of law — Abolition of cruel pun- 
ishments — Educational reform — The clerical reforms — Distribution of 
the Scriptures — Suppression of Polish insurrection — War in Central 
Asia — The^apprehensions of the British Government unfounded. 

Pages 68-103. 

CHAPTER III. Russia — Its Geography, Existing Races, Religion, and 
: •. Social Life. 

Geographical extent of Russia — Its northern lands and races — The Finns and 
Lapps — The White Sea region — The Northern Sclaves — Archangel — The 
holy tombs of Solovetsk — Religious character of the Russian — Great 
number of churches in Russia — Russian devotion— Social instincts of the 
Russians — Manufactures of the towns — Three classes — Merchants, burgh- 
ers and artisans — Character of each — The Annual Fair, or Yarmark, at 
Nijni Novgorod— The Traffic of Novgorod — Tartar Tribes of Turkestan 
—Chase for a Bride Pages 104-122. 

CHAPTER IV. Turkey— Its History. 

Origin of the name Turk — Several theories — Their early home at the foot of 
the Altai range — Their progress westward — They demand that Justinian 
shall drive out the Avars — Their conversion to Mahometanism — These 
Turkomans not Turks — Their descent into Asia Minor — The Seljuk 
Turks — These overrun Asia Minor — Extent of their empire — Divided 
among the descendants of Malek Shah— Origin of the Osmanli Turks- 
Ertogrul— He finds two armies fighting, and joins one — It proves to be 
that of a Seljukian Sultan — Ertogrul receives territory for his assist- 
ance— Othman, son of Ertogrul, founder of the Osmanli Turks— Othman's 
wise and good reign of thirty-eight years — Orchan, his son, succeeds 
him — Organization of the Janissaries — Division of the territory into 
Sandjaks and Vilayets— Murad I., Bajazet I., Mohammed I., MuradlL, all 
made conquests in Europe, occupying all of European Turkey (except 
Constantinople and its immediate vicinity), Greece, Moldavia, Wallachia, 
Servia, and most of Hungary — Condition of European powers at this 
time— Terrible discords and hatreds of each other— The Turk-bell of 
Calixtus III— Fall of Constantinople in 1453— Servia and Belgrade— Its 
great fortress subjugated in 1459— Wallachia and Bosnia become Turk- 
ish provinces in 1462— Albania and the Herzegovina in 1467— Venice de- 
feated and made to surrender her great possessions in 1475, and Mol- 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



7 



davia and the Crim Tartars in 1476 — Bajazet II. first fought Russia in 
1495 — Selim I., a cruel, bad man, subdued Egypt and Syria. 

Soliman 1., surnamed the Magnificent, extended his dominions in all 
directions, in Asia and Africa ; and all Europe, except Russia, were either 
his allies or his tributaries — His great civil reforms — The decline of the 
Ottoman empire from his death — Corruption introduced during his reign 
— Weak and vicious sovereigns that followed Soliman — Koprili, Grand 
Vizier of Mohammed IV. — Miserable death of Mohammed IV. in 1692 
— Mustapha II. obliged to surrender Hungary, Transylvania, etc., and 
dethroned and imprisoned — Ahmed III. the involuntary host of Charles 
XII. of Sweden — He is forced to surrender Croatia, part of Bosnia and 
the principalities, and is deposed by the Janissaries, who claim to be 
the real rulers — Four more weak and incapable Sultans (1730-1789) 
— Selim III. and Mustapha IV. both strangled by the Janissaries — An 
era of great changes — Mahmoud II. (18U8-1839) — A man of great ability, 
but fallen upon an evil time — Substantial independence of Servia — Re- 
volt of the Wahabis — Revolution in, and independence of Greece — Ali 
Pasha of Janina — Murder of the Greek Patriarch — Atrocities in Greece 
• — Destructive war with Russia— The slaughter of the Janissaries — " The 
Sandjak Sheriffe " — Mahmoud's reforms — In his army — In dress — Revolt 
of Mehemet Ali — Russian aid sought to subdue him — A new civil organ- 
ization initiated — Character of Mahmoud — His intemperance — Abd-ul 
Medjid (1839-1861) — Mehemet Ali put down by the aid of European 
powers — Good influence of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe — Weakness of 
Abd-ul Medjid — -His apathy — Loth to commence reforms — The Syrian 
massacres — Reception of Hungarian refugees — The Crimean War — The 
European powers urge reforms and they are decreed — on paper — The 
Hatti Humayoum — Extravagance of Abd-ul Med j id's later years — 
Abdul Aziz (1861-1876) — Weak, inefficient, and extravagant — The Can- 
dian insurrection — Insurrection in Bosnia and the Herzegovina — Massa- 
cres in Bulgaria — Fearful extravagance of the Sultan, and destruction 
of the credit of the Turkish Government — His dethronement and sui- 
cide — Murad V. deposed after a reign of three months — Abd-ul Hamid II. 

Pages 123-160. 

CHAPTER V. The Religion, Manners and Customs of the Osmanlos 
and op the Asiatic and Sclavonic Provinces of Turkey. 

The organization of every Mahometan State based upon the Koran as its 
supreme law — Mahometanism defined and described — No connection 
between morality and faith among the Moslems — Kindness to animals 
a meritorious act, but not to Christians — Impossibility of real civilization 
in a nation composed of the believers of such doctrines — Changes in 
Turkish life within fifty years — Present moral and religious condition of 
the Turk — Abandonment cf Mahometanish by Turks— The Sacred City — 
Mohammedan Sects of Syria — Condition of the Christians of Turkey — 
The effect of four hundred years of oppression — Hospitality of all classes 
in Turkey — Kindness to animals- — This commanded by the Koran; but 
cruelty is also practiced upon animals, and the cruelty of the Turk to his 
fellow-man is notorious. 

Roumania. — Surface of the country — Crops and fruits — Scenery of 
Moldavia — Pasturage lands of Wallachia — Cattle, sheep, and swine 
raised in great numbers — Abundance of game — All European wild animals 
found there — Climate — Minerais in the Carpathians — Fruits very abun- 
dant anci of excellent quality — Rearing of bees a large industry — Rou- 
manians a mixed race — The people inclined to be indolent, but large and 
finely formed, in the cities having a Greek type of physiogomy, in the 
country, Roman — Upper classes very haughty — Two universities, eight 
theological seminaries, nearly 5,000 schools, but instruction is exceedingly 
meager. 



8 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Servia. — The Servians a purely Sclavonian race — Constitution of 
Servia — The Senate — The Skoupschina — Provisions of Constitution — 
The sessions of the Skoupschina annual — The Grand Skoupschina — 
Commerce of Servia — Her trade almost exclusively with Austria, Turkey, 
and Boumania — Exports, mostly swine — Imports — The Servian branch of 
the Greek Church — Independent since A. D. 1220 — Mr. Denton's descrip- 
tion — The service essentially Jewish — The administration of the Lord's 
Supper— Imposing ceremonies. 

Constitution of Servia — The Senate — The Skoupschina — Provisions of 
Constitution — The sessions of the Skoupschina annual — The Grand 
Skoupschina — Commerce of Servia — Her trade almost exclusively with 
Austria, Turkey, and Roumania — Exports, mostly swine — Imports — -The 
Servian branch of the Greek Church — Independent since A. D. 1220— 
Montenegro. — Meaning of the various names given to Montenegro — 
Area and population — Montenegro destitute of sea-coast — Its inhabitants 
Serbs — Their character — Surface of the country — The Mountaineers a 
nation of warriors — Four hundred years of chronic war — "One Monte- 
negrin equal to ten Turks " — Ferocious character of the warfare — Behead- 
ing foes — Slicing off noses and ears — Turkish cruelties — Impaling alive — 
Cutting off hands and feet — The Montenegrins never guilty of disrespect 
to a woman, or outrage to a child — The Montenegrins men of fine 
physique, industrious, hospitable, patient of fatigue, frank, open-hearted, 
and generous. 

Bosnia and the Herzegovina. — The inhabitants of these provinces 
Serbs and Croats — Mountainous character of the two provinces — Serajevo, 
its fine situation and beautiful gardens — Population of Bosnia and the 
Herzegovina classes — The refugees in Austria — English mini3trations to 
the sufferers. 

Mostar, its antiquity and fine situation on the Narenta — Its bridge built 
by Trajan — Traditions respecting it, probably repaired by Soliman the 
Magnificent — The views of Mostar and Coinica — The Sclavonic Mahome- 
tans of Bosnia, an additional complication of the Eastern question — What 
shall be done with them ? Pages 161-200. 

CHAPTEK VI. Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Church and Atrocities. 

The Bulgarians Sclavonians only in language and religion — The original 
Bulgarians, Finns or Ugrian Tartars, but have intermarried and coalesced 
with the Sclavonians till they have become essentially Sclavonian 
in language, religion, and to some extent in race — The Bulgarians 
Pagans till the ninth century — Methodius — His painting of the Last 
Judgment — Conversion of King Bogaris and his people in 853 — The 
Bulgarian Church — Its independence of both the Eastern and Western 
Churches— The monk Simeon becomes king, and finally Czar Simeon — 
His conquests and extensive dominions — The telegraph of Leo, Arch- 
bishop of Salonica — Bulgaria one of the leading powers of Europe — 
Successors of Simeon — Wars with the Greek emperors — Adverse for- 
tune of the Bulgarian kings — Their enemies, Servian, Croat, Magyar, 
Greek, and Turk, by turns — Their fighting under the Czars Stephen 
Diishan, and Lazar— Bulgaria subjugated by the Turks, at the battle of 
Nikopolis, A.D. 1396 — The same course pursued by the Turks as in 
Bosnia — A few become Mahometans, aside from the youth who were 
made cadets of the Janissaries — The Bulgarian Church struggle to keep 
itself from the control of the Patriarch of Constantinople — W r hy the 
Greeks were not forced to become Mahometans — Turkish estimate of 
their character — Their willingness to do anything for money and power — 
The Greek Patriarchs assiduous and persistent in their efforts to gain con- 
trol of the Bulgarian Church — Their plausible arguments to the Sultan 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



9 



—Their crafty attempts to fasten suspicion on the Bulgarians — They 
bribe Orsenius Dolis, Patriarch of Bulgaria in 1767, to resign — His letter 
of abdication — The bribery so evident that the Bulgarian people refuse 
to be bound by it — The Patriarch of Constantinople assumes power, 
and sends the basest of men to be bishops and priests — The noble, pass- 
ive resistance of the Bulgarians — Their protests unheeded or answered 
by persecutions — The uprising of the nobles — Their first movement in 
the direction of education — -They procure books, Bibles, etc., in Bulgarian, 
from abroad, and distribute them among the people, and establish schools, 
at their own expense, for instruction in the Bulgarian language and 
literature — Efforts of the Patriarch of Constantinople to confiscate 
these books — His want of success — Permission obtained for the estab- 
lishment of schools in the provincial towns in 1850— Growth of these 
schools after the Crimean war — Number of scholars in them in Janu- 
ary, 1876 — Movement of the leaders in 1860 to make these schools a 
charge upon the ecclesiastical funds — Its success — They renounce their 
allegiance to the Greek Patriarch, and place the diocesan revenues in 
the hands of a commission, to be distributed in part for educational 
purposes — Valuable assistance of Lord Stratford de Redehffe — Other 
schools established by dissenters — The effort for the re-instatement of 
the Bulgarian National Church — The difficulties gradually removed, 
and the object accomplished in 1870 — The advantages of this change 
to the Bulgarians — Operations of Russian adventurers and revolutionists 
in Bulgaria in the past — The selfish purposes of Russia in 1828-29 — 
Russia opposed to the Bulgarian Educational Movement — The operations 
of the Bucharest Committee in 1807 — Their purposes — Their failure— 
This due to the prompt and efficient action of Midha^ Pasha — A different 
state of things in 1876 — The corruptions and outrages of the last years 
of Abd-ul Aziz's reign — The constantly increasing exactions of the tax* 
farmers — Quartering of Turkish troops on the rayahs and landholders — 
The constant outrages against female virtue. 

Atrocities. — The condition of affairs in Bulgaria prior to May, 1876 — 
The Andrassy note — Motives of the Powers in its presentation — Hostility 
of the fanatical Turks of Constantinople to these remonstrances — Progress 
which had been made by the Bulgarians in the previous ten years 
— Beginning of the insurrection — The Turkish measures for putting 
it down — Bashi-Bazouks — Mr. Schuyler's Report — Not heretofore pub- 
lished, except by the government — Circumstances attending Mr. Schuy- 
ler's investigation — His opportunities for obtaining correct information 
— Previous movements and disaffection in Bulgaria — The re establish- 
ment of the Bulgarian Church — The Eski-Zagra affair — Demands of 
the people — The insurrection of May, 1876 — Plans and outbreaks — 
Measures taken by authorities — Arming of Bashi-Bazouks — The re- 
pression of the insurrection — Perushtitsa — Klissura — Panagurishta — 
Petritch — Bellova— Bratzigovo — Koprivtehitsa — Batak — The insurrec- 
tion in the Sandjak of Sliven — Sliven — Boyadjik — Insurrection in the 
Sandjak of Tirnova— The monastery near Drenova — Gabrovo — Kravenik 
■ — Trevno — Novo-Mahalle — List of towns and villages destroyed — Sum- 
ming up : ten thousand houses burned, seventy thousand or eighty 
thousand persons homeless, fifteen thousand murdered, and out- 
rages without number — All these villages pillaged — One hundred and 
fifteen to one hundred and sixty Mussulmans killed — But no outrages 
■ — The leaders in this infamy rewarded by the Turkish Government — 
Unwillingness of the English Government to admit these facts — Mr. 
Baring's" testimony confirms Mr. Schuyler's — Progress of events at 
Constantinople in May to September, 1876 — Abd-ul Aziz deposed and 
commits suicide — Murad V. succeeds — Two of the ministers assassinated 
June 15, by Hassan Bey — Abdul Hamid II. succeeds Murad V., August 
31 Pages 201-252. 



10 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VTL Military and Financial Condition of the Contend- 
ing Nations at the Declaration of War. 

Brief review of previous wars of the last twenty years — The great armies of 
the leading Powers, one cause of war — France and Russia most in fault 
for this — Position of Turkey, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Greece, and the 
Principalities, as affected by the .great armies of the leading Powers. 
Russia. — Population — Its army. 

Turkey. — Its area and probable population — Great diversity of races 
in Turkey — Their hostility to each other — The Mahometan element a 
minority in European Turkey — Military condition of Turkey not satis- 
factory — Finances of Turkey — Their deplorable condition — The national 
debt..". .' Pages 253-263. 

CHAPTER VIII. Diplomatic Efforts to avert war. 

Frequency of war between Russia and Turkey— The causes of this chronio 
hostility on the side of Turkey and Russia — Neither they nor any 
other of the European Powers desirous of war in 1876 — The reasons 
why — The first diplomatic step — Count Andrassy's note — The sub- 
stance of that note — Its demands — Its reception by the Grand Vizier — 
Midhat Pasha's projected constitution — The failure of the constitution — 
The Bulgarian massacres — Tne Berlin Memorandum — Its purpose — Great 
Britain declines to sign it — Encouragement giv-cn to Turkey by the action 
of the British Ministry — Great Britain's proposition for an armistice — 
Di ; agreement on the time for which it should be conceded — The Emperor 
Alexander's interview with the British Minister — The conference at 
Constantinople of December 11, 1S76 — The statement of the motives and 
results of this conference by the Marquis of Salisbury — Tne parties to 
the conference — Russia the motive power of the conference — Prince 
GortschakofPs declaration — The Ru-sian proto3ol — Its terms — Its moder- 
ation — The declaration of the Russian Ambis-ador — The counter 
declaration of Turkey — Its curt and harsh tone — The manifesto of t lie 
Czar — Declaration of war Pages 269-278. 

CHAPTER IX. Montenegro and Servia in 1S76. 



The in=urrection in Bosnia and the Herzegovina — The attitude and designs of 
Russia, Servia gnd Montenegro — Russia determined to fight, but careful 
to conceal the determination — Servia tries to imitate Russia — Montene- 
gro wants to fight and does not care who knows it — The insurrection 
breaks out in Bosnia and the Herzegovina in 1875 — Uprising in Bulgaria 
in May, 1876— Montenegro and Servia declare war, July 1st, 1876 — 
Russia, April. 24th, 1877 — Servia's mistake — Servia's army and its com- 
manders — Army assumes the offensive and crosses the border — Tcher- 
nayeff's plan of campaign excellent — Early successes — General von 
Zich's success and disaster — Terrible mistake of filling back into the 
defensive — Turkish delay in taking the offensive — Subsequent disasters 
of Servia — Belgrade in imminent peril — Russia's timely intervention. 

Montenegro.— Prince Nicholas Commander-in-Chief of the Montene- 
grin warriors— Army divided into two corps— The Prince leads the first 
in person^ General Viskotif'ch the second— Bit h corps cross the frontier, 
the first into the Herzegovina, the second into Albania — Marvelous 
celerity of movement — Montenegrin Prince and his army ubiquitous — 
Viskotitich and his corps equally active — Almost unbroken series of 
victories of the Montenegrins— Muktar Pasha's army almost annihilated 
at Verbitza — Medun surrendered unconditional lv — Podgoritza saved from 
the Montenegrins by the armistice of October 31st, which virtually closes 
the war. p ag es 279-293. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



11 



CHAPTER X. The Outbreak of Hostilities. 

Russia's declaration of war a relief to all Christendom— Along: the Pruth— Mr. 
MacGahan's vivid picture of the opening scene at Kischeneff, April 
24th— Review of the Russian Army— The Czar in tears— Across the 
Pruth— Eeni, Galatz, Braila and the bridge of Barbosch occupied— Atti- 
tude of Roumania— England's responsibility for the war by encouraging 
Turkey— Serdar Ekrem, Abdul-Kerim, inspects the quadrilateral— Mis- 
calculations -Turkish flotilla and Eussian torpedo-boats— Turkish 
troops, how distributed for defense along the Danube line— Black Sea- 
Turkish fleet, one of the finest in the world— Russian navy inferior— 
j orts of the Dardanelles and of the Bosphorus — Defense of Batum — 
Bulgarian fortresses— War actually begun— Mr. Forbes describes the 
blowing up of the turret-ship Lutfi Djelil—A second monitor destroyed 
by means of torpedoes Rages 299-330. 



CHAPTER XI. Across the Danu: 




Russian troops on the Roumanian frontier — Corps andf corps-commanders — 
Organization — Popularity of the war in Russia-^Boumanian neutrality 
— Prince Charts a genuine Hohenzollern — Disposition of the Rouma- 
nian Army — Prince Charles makes a tour of inspection — His staff— In- 
cidents of the journey — A variety entertainment — At Kalafat — Delay in 
crossing the Danube — London Daily News correspondents— Rustchuk, 
strengthening of its defenses — Russians leaving nothing to chance — 
Method of attack — " Quaker " guns of straw at Giurgevo — "All quiet on 
the Danube!" — First Russian bridge on the Danube — The first crossing 
— The first battle — Russians in possession of the Dobrddscha — Russian 
regard for the Moslem " churches On to the Balkans!"— The Turks 
mystified — Across the Danube in earnest — Topography of the scene of 
the crossing — Battle of Sistova — A batch of prisoners — Feints above and 
below — An episode on the Danube Pages 331-385. 



CHAPTER XII. Across the Balkans. 

Unaccountable tardiness of the Russian advance — The bridge at Siranitza- 
Sistova " continually giving way " — " Russia owes her success less to the 
good generalship of her commanders, than to the worse generalship of the 
Turks" — Organization and disposition of the Army of Operations — 
Gourko's Division — Recklessness in the enemy's country — A venerable 
subaltern with a historic name — Criticisms of the Russian and Turkish 
generalship — Grand Duke Nicholas at Tirnova — His reception — Bul- 
garian welcome of the Russians warm and enthusiastic — Exemplary 
conduct of the Russian soldiery — Surrender of Nicopolis — "A sudden 
alarm" — Gourko's famous raid — Prince Tserteleflf and his discoveries — 
A pass "in the clouds" — Across the Balkans by the Hankoi Pass — Prince 
Tserteleff the first Russian south of the Balkans — A slight encounter — 
Gourko's "brilliant successes and subsequent reverses — Shipka Pass taken 
— Turkish perfidy — Disasters at Eski-Zagra and elsewhere, their cause — 
Successful retreat in face of overwhelming numbers — Fearful outrages 
by the Turks after Gourko's retreat — " Eski Zagra a name to call up 
memories more horrible than those of Batak." Pages 386-416. 



12 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPEE XIII. The First Armenian Campaign. 

Topographical sketch of the region of Ararat — Kars — Relative importance of 
the Asiatic campaign — Army of the Caucasus — Its commanders — Army 
of the Rion — First battle of the war — Repulse of the Russians — Ahmed 
Muktar Pasha — Siege and capture of Ardahan — Investment of Kars — 
Operations of the Turkish squadron — Sukhum Kaleh captured and 
burned — Miserable generalship of the Russians at this time — Their op- 
portunities neglected — Criminal disregard of the most ordinary pre- 
cautions — Bayazid, with a garrison of only 1,500 Cossacks, attacked by 
22 000 men, including a large number of Kurds — The garrison surrenders 
— Half of the number brutally murdered by the Kurds, the remainder 
close the gates of the citadel and refuse to comply with the surrender — 
Battle in the Pass of Tahir — Russians victorious— Battle of Delibaba or 
Helias — Turks victorious — Retreat of TergukassDif— Battle of Zevin — A 
gallant attack and terrible repulse — Kars relieved — Toe Russians on 
the defensive — The plain of Subatan — Aladja Dagh — Brutality of tbe 
Turks — Cowardice of the Kurds — Victory of Tergukassoff... Pages 417-436. 



CHAPTER XIV. First Repulses at Plevna. 

How Plevna, itself insignificant, became famous — A brigade of Kriidener's 
corps destroyed — First attack on Plevna, Mr. Forbes's graphic nar- 
rative — After the battles — Brutal massacres of the wounded Rus- 
sians Pages 437-160 



CHAPTER XV. The Russian Deadlock in Bulgaria. 

The Russians paralyzed for the entire month of August — Fixing the responsi- 
bility — The idea of one campaign relinquished — Tbe Imperial Guards 
called to the front — Mr. MacGahan on "the Russian mistakes" — Modern 
firearms — Offensive and defensive — Attack and defense— -Skobeleff be- 
fore Loftcha (Lovatz) — Positions of the forces — Osman's inertness after 
Plevna Russia's salvation — Summary view of the situation just before 
the second effort to take Plevna Pages 461-478 



CHAPTER XVI. Fighting in the Shipka Pass. 

Suleiman Pasha's blunder and disobedience— Determined assault upon the 
Russian positions in the Shipka Pass frustrated by the timely arrival of 
reinforcements — A vivid account by an eye-witness, Mr. Forbes — An 
interview with the Czar — General Radetsky attacks and Suleiman with- 
draws Pages 479-504 

CHAPTER XVII. The Great Attack upon Plevna. 

^Prince Charles of Roumania in chief command, with General Zotoff as second — 
O^man Pasha's sortie, a surprise gallantly repulsed — Marvelous bravery 
of the Turks — Imeritinsky makes a determined advance upon Lcftcha, 
which, after a stubborn resistance, is successful — The great assault upon 
Plevna— Mr. Forbes tells the story in thrilling sentences— Skobeleff cap- 
tures and loses a redoubt — The Roumanians capture and hold the 
famous Grivitza redoubt — The great assault proves the great re- 
pulse Pages 504-543 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



13 



CHAPTER XVIII. The Campaign on the Lom. 

The Turkish Army of the Lom, and the Russian Army of Rustchuk — The Ser- 
dar Ekrem and the Czg,rewitch — Mehemet Ali Pasha, a German by birth, 
succeeds Abd-ul Kerim Pasha — Topography of the valley of the Lom — 
Numbers and alignment of the opposing armies — Firs: fight and a suc- 
cessful reconnoissance — Turkish atrocities again — Timely criticisms of 
Russian and Turkish strategy — Mehemet Ali not Idle — Turkish demon- 
stration all along the line — Russian defeat at Katzelyevo — A glance at 
the general condition and aspect of the war, September 12th to end of 
October — Neither despondency nor irresolution Romanoff characteristic^, 
still less acceptance^ defeat — Incapables shelved — Todleben called to 
the seat of war-^Koumanian valor — Osman's last reinforcements and 
supplies — Suleiman Pasha again in the Shipka Pass — A specimen of 
Turkish "victories" — Turks suffer a signal defeat at Kairkoi — Russian 
soldier on duty and wounded — Defects of Russian ambulance service — 
Russian line officers — Mehemet Ali superseded by Suleiman Pasha, one 
of the bravest but most incompetent of Turkish officers — Bombardment 
of Sulina — Death of Prince Sergius of Leuchcenberg— Unimportant skir- 
mishes Pages 514-569 



CHAPTER XIX. Kizil Tepe and Yagni. 

Earlier operations against Kars and in Armenia generally — An interchange of 
civilities between General Melikoffand Ahmed Muktar Pasha — The "Po- 
lish Legion" of the Turkish Army, less than fifty strong — Great and Little 
Yagni — Russians repulsed — The Turks take Kizil Tepe, and the Rus- 
sians are repulsed in attempts to retake it — Mr. Williams's graphic 
narrative, with a caution — Muktar is honored with the title Ghazi for 
this victory — A daring exploit — Ghazi Mukfar conceives a brilliant 
scheme, but fails to carry it out— Kizil Tepe avenged; the Great 
Yagni captured bylhe Ku^ians — Unsuccessful attack upon Olya Tepe, 
and bootless assaults upon the Little Yagni — The Turks defeated, with 
terrible slaughter, in a daring counter-attack upon Karajal — The Rus- 
sians cap these splendid successes by voluntarily withdrawing from the 
Great Yagni and the surrounding positions without even an attempt 
to hold them • Pages 570-o91 



CHAPTER XX. The Battle op Aladja Dagh. 

The Ghazi Muktar abandons Kizil Tepe, withdrawing to Aladja Dagh — The 
Russians attack Aladja Dagh — Correspondents of the London Daily News 
disagree — Muktar badly outgeneraled — The most brilliant exploit of the 
Armenian campaign — Turning the Turkish right by a wide detour, a 
Russian division occupies the Orlok Heights; Olya Tepe is carried by 
storm ; bisecting Muktar's army ; the portion upon the Little Yagni 
escapes to Kars, the remainder being killed, wounded and prisoners, 
the latter, including 7 Pashas and 26 battalions, with 36 guns — Thrilling 
narrative of an eve- witness — The Russians start immediately for Erze- 
rum — Battle in "The Camel's Neck" — Russians victorious again — Muk- 
tar in Erzerum, the Russians surrounding — Kars also invested — The fall 
of Kars ..Pages 595-617. 



14 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXI. Investment and Fall of Plevna, and Surrender op 

Ghazi Osman. 

New strategical combinations of the Russians before Plevna — Arrangement of 
their forces in Bulgaria — General McClellan's sketch of the topography — 
Arrival of the great engineer, General Todleben — Gourko appointed to 
the command of the cavalry — He attacks and captures Gumi-Dubnik, 
after a heroic resistance — Turkish barbarities at Teliche — Capture of 
Teliche and Dolni Dubnik — Storming of Teteven — Mehemet Ali in com- 
mand at Kamarli — General Gourko undertakes a campaign against Sophia 
— A difficult march through the Pravitza Pass — A battle above the clouds 
— MacGahan's brilliant description — Capture of Etropol — Occupation of 
Orkanieh — Fighting on the Lom — A simultaneous advance — The Turks 
enter Pirgos — Eifst battle of Mechka — Second battle of Mechka — The 
Turks repulsed — isjkobelefT assaults the Green Hill — A vivid description by 
a correspondent-nThe Roumanians capture Rahova — Bombardment of 
Plevna — Edhem Pasha's account of the situation in Plevna — Osman Pasha 
attempts to break the iron circle — He is wounded and surrenders his 
army — MacGahan's account of the final battle — Scenes at the surrender — 
Interview of Ghazi Osman with the Grand Duke — Russian rejoicings— 
Sufferings of Turkish prisoners Pages 618-647. 

CHAPTER XXII. The Advance on Sophia and Adrianople. 

The Sultan's Circular to the Great Powers soliciting intervention — Its cold recep- 
tion — The Turks capture Elena after an important battle — Suleiman Pasha 
makes a strong demonstration on the Lom — Third battle of Mechka — The 
Turks driven back — General Gourko crosses the Etropol Balkans in the 
depth of winter — A picturesque cavalcade — Immense d faculties sur- 
mounted — Sufferings and heroism of the Imperial Guard — MacGahan's 
account of the crossing — The Russians reach Kuriak in the plain of 
Sophia — Battle of Tashkesen — Memorable heroism of the Turks under 
Baker Pasha — Retreat of Chakir Pasha from Kamarli — Suleiman Pasha 
abandons Sophia — Gourko occupies Sophia without resistance — General 
Radetsky captures the Turkish Army in front of Shipka — Gourko seizes 
Iktiman, and advances on Tatar-Bazardjik, which is abandoned and 
burned — Frightful exodus of the Mussulmen — Suleiman defeated in a 
three days' battle before Philippopolis — He retreats across the Rhodope 
Mountains to the sea-coast — Gourko enters Philippopolis — Skobeleff 
enters Adrianople — Close of active hostilities — An armistice s gned — Sum- 
mary of Montenegrin and Servian campaign* — Capture of the famous 
Fortress of Niksics, of Bilek and Antivari— The Servians occupy Ak- 
Palanka and Pirot — Capture of Nissa — Successful advance upon Pristina 
and Vranja Pages 648-669. 

CHAPTER XXIII. The Treaty of San Stefano. 

The Sultan applies for an armistice — A cabinet crisis in Constantinople — The 
Russians refuse to negotiate except upon the acceptance of severe pre- 
liminary conditions — Appointment of Turkish Commissioners — They meet 
the Grand Duke at Kezanlik — Negotiations transferred to Adrianople — 
Signature of armistice and preliminaries of peace — Humiliating terms im- 
posed on Turkey — Surrender of the Danubian fortresses and advance of the 
Russians towards Constantinople — Sensation produced in Europe — Review 
of the relations between Russia and England — Division of sentiment in 
England — The Liberals favor Russia — Lord Beaconsrield's war policy — Par- 
liament summoned for January — Correspondence between Lord Derby and 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



15 



Prince GortschakofF— England's anxiety for Constantinople and Gallipoli — 
Pacific assurances given by Russia — Admiral Hornby presents himself at 
the Dardanelles but is recalled — The British equadron passes the Darda- 
nelles, two weeks later, against the Turkish protest — Imminence of hostili- 
ties — The Russians advance closer to Constantinople — Peace negotiations 
commenced at Adrianople — The Treaty signed at San Stefano, March 3d, 
1878 — Last operations in Asia — Surrender of Erzerum — Ravages of 

\ typhus fever — The office of Grand Vizier abolished — Server Pasha de- 
nounces England, and retires from the Cabinet — Insurrections in Thessaly 
and Epirus — Hostilities commenced by Greece, but quickly suspended — 
Terms of the Treaty of San Stefano — Montenegro, Servia and Roumania 
declared independent with increase of territory — Bulgaria erected into a 
tributarv principality with vast extent — The war indemnity — Batum, Ar- 
dahan, Kars and Bayazid ceded to Russia in part payment — Austria calls 
for a Conference or Congress — Negotiations for its meeting at Berlin — A 
war credit voted by the British Parliament — General Ignatieff 's mission 
to Vienna — England demands the submission of the entire Treaty to the 
Congress — Russia refuses and the Congress is abandoned — Lord Beacons- 
field resolves upon vigorous action — Lord Derby resigns and is replaced by 
Lord Salisbury, who issues a warlike circular — Probabilities of a further 
conflict — Statistics of the war— The future Prince of Bulgaria.Pages 670-698 



INTRODUCTION. 



When, five hundred years ago, in 1356, the Osmanli 
crossed the Dardanelles, and planted his foot upon the soil 
of Europe, all the European powers, for want of organization 
or concerted action, were powerless to prevent his inroads 
upon their territory ; and though his habits were nomadic, 
his civilization only that of the warrior, his culture that 
of the Arab, and his incapacity for prosecuting the arts 
of peace so great as to be proverbial, they were forced 
to bide his presence. He encamped in Europe, and a 
hundred years later took possession of Constantinople ; 
for the whole of these five hundred years he has only 
held his position by his sword, and that failing, by the 
jealousies of the Christian powers. 

Before the capture of Constantinople and the extin- 
guishment of the Christian Empire, which for eleven hun- 
dred years had had its capital there — these nomad Turks, 
under Murad I, Bayazid I., Mahmoud L, and Murad II, 
had overrun and conquered the provinces of Turkey in 
Europe, including Bulgaria, Bosnia, the Herzegovina, 
Moldavia and Wallachia, had dethroned and slain their 
kings, ancT placed their own sipahis or feudal chiefs in 
command of them as woiwodes or tributary princes. 
The Hungarians had fought the Turks, and more than 
once had defeated them with terrible slaughter ; but the 

21 



22 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



two nations were very evenly matched, both being of 
Oriental origin, and perhaps sprung from the same ances- 
tors, and victory inclined as often to one side as the other. 
From the middle of the sixteenth century to near the 
close of the seventeenth, the sultans ruled Hungary and 
divided it into Turkish provinces. But while the Turk 
was thus controlling all South-eastern Europe, the Rus- 
sian power, not yet fully developed, was divided among 
four or five kings, all or nearly all of the Sclavonic race, 
who were fighting with each other, and fighting the Tar- 
tar khans, who descended upon them with their nomad 
cavalry by hundreds of thousands, captured and rav- 
aged their cities, and then returned to their vast plateaus, 
or steppes in higher Asia, only to come again, like the 
locusts, when there were towns and cities to be pillaged. 
Some of these Tartar tribes made a more permanent en- 
campment north of the Black Sea, and, encouraged by 
Turkey, kept up frequent inroads into Russian territory. 

Poland, the bitter enemy of the Russian kings, had 
during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, been fre- 
quently at war with the Turks, and during the latter 
century, as the ally of Austria, she experienced many 
severe defeats. At length jealous of Austria, who was 
her neighbor on the south-west, and of Hungary, which 
was now under Turkish control, her own territory ex- 
tending in a long and narrow tract almost to the Black 
Sea, and resting upon the Dniester as its south-eastern 
boundary, with the growing and hostile power of Russia 
on her eastern border, Poland ignobly became the ally 
and tributary of Turkey about A. D. 1580, and Austria 
being also a partially tributary State to the Turk, Rus- 
sia alone, of all the Eastern States of Europe, was left to 
contend single-handed against the Ottoman power and 
its tributaries. The Cossacks of the Don were at this 



INTRODUCTION. 



23 



time a match for ,the Tartar tribes in the pay of the Turk, 
and the Russian armies were obliged to contend against 
Poland on the one side and Turkey on the other. The 
powers of Western Europe were either allies of Turkey 
or neutrals during the protracted conflicts which followed; 
England and France both sought the favor of the Porte, 
and attempted, but unsuccessfully, to persuade it to join 
them in a war against Spain. The Scandinavian countries 
were tributaries or allies of the Turk, and Spain and Por- 
tugal were bound to him by treaty. Venice, for pur- 
poses of gain, sought his alliance. Russia was left alone 
to contend with this formidable foe. 

At the close of the sixteenth century, Turkey held 
forty vice-royalties : eight in Europe, twenty-eight in Asia, 
and four in Africa ; it had also four tributaries: Tran- 
sylvania, Moldavia, "Wallachia, and Ragusa. Austria, 
Poland, and Sweden were completely under its influence, 
and occasionally were called upon for tribute ; while 
Venice, Sicily, Spain, Portugal, France, and England 
were its open allies. The hundred years that followed 
were years of almost constant war. The Persians carried 
on a long and bloody war with Turkey, and compelled 
the relinquishment of a large amount of territory. The 
tributary States, Moldavia and Wallachia, were at war 
with each other, and both hostile to the Turk. Cossacks 
and Crim ' Tartars were fighting along the northern 
shores of the Black Sea. Venice declared war against 
Turkey for Candia, which the former held and the latter 
wanted. Austria and Poland became friends, and en- 
gaged again in war with Turkey, recovering Transylvania 
and a part, of Hungary, including its capital. France 
and England became neutral, and Russia, whenever fair 
opportunity offered, rained its fiercest blows on the head 
of the Turk. At the close of the seventeenth century 



24 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



the power of the Ottoman was beginning to wane. The 
treaty of Carlo witz, in 1698, unlike all the preceding 
treaties, demanded no tribute for the Porte ; but, on the 
contrary, yielded to the Christian forces much of the ter- 
ritory he had previously claimed and possessed. In the 
East, Persia had conquered from him a broad tract from 
Georgia to the Persian Gulf. North of the Black Sea 
the old boundary difficulties between Russia were settled 
by a separate treaty (Russia declining all mediation, then 
and subsequently), and it was stipulated that the Tartar 
raids should not be allowed. Poland did not make 
peace till five years later, and gained, as she deserved, 
but small concessions. Austria recovered Transylvania 
and part of Hungary, as well as half of Sclavonia. The 
Moldavo-Wallachian principalities were still tributary, 
but less oppressively so. Venice lost Candia, but gained 
Morea, and no longer paid tribute for Zante, and acquired 
some ports in Dalmatia, 

During the eighteenth century war was declared between 
Russia and Turkey five times, and twenty-one years out of 
ninety were spent in war, often of the most sanguinary 
character. In 1798 a defensive alliance was entered into 
between Russia and Turkey against France, and this was 
joined by Great Britain in 1799. This era of good feel- 
ing lasted only to a short period after the peace of 
Amiens in 1802, to which England, France, and Turkey 
were parties. In 1806, the old causes of strife — the dis- 
content of the principalities, and the cruel oppression of 
the Christian population of the Turkish provinces — had 
incited anew the strife between Russia and the Porte ; 
and at this time France prompted the declaration of war 
on the part of the Porte, whose ally she became, while 
England joined Russia. This war continued for six 
years. Its results were : the Pruth as the southern 



INTRODUCTION. 



25 



boundary of Russia; free trade for both countries on the 
lower Danube ; self-government for Servia, with a small 
tribute, and the promise of greater privileges to the 
Christians. The war of 1828-9 between Russia and 
Turkey, grew out of the Greek war of independence, 
the sympathy of the Russians with the Greek Christians, 
and their abhorrence of the cruel and brutal outrages 
which the Turks inflicted upon the Greeks. The Crimean 
war of 1853-6, while it had some justification in the 
cruel treatment of the Christians in Bulgaria, Bosnia, 
and the Danubian principalities, which perhaps author- 
ized the demand of the Czar Nicholas for the protector- 
ate over the Greek Christians in Turkey, was mainly due, 
it must be admitted, to the belief that Turkey was has- 
tening to its downfall, and that the time had arrived when, 
in the division of the estate of the moribund Ottoman 
among the great powers of Europe, the lion's share 
would fall to Russia. This not altogether laudable am- 
bition failed to attain its end, owing to the interference 
of England, France, and Sardinia, and partially of Aus- 
tria, in behalf of the Porte. 

The causes which led to the war now just ended we 
shall discuss elsewhere, as well as the efforts of diplo- 
macy to prevent it. 

When the Ottoman Porte has not been at war with 
Russia, during the whole five hundred years of its en- 
campment in Europe, and especially during the four 
hundred and twenty-five years since the taking of Con- 
stantinople, it has, except at some very brief intervals, 
been engaged in active hostilities with some one or more 
of the other European or Asiatic powers. War seemed 
to be its normal condition ; and no other nation of Europe, 
and very few of those of Asia, have so utterly neglected 
the arts of peace as this great nation, which has occupied 



26 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



for these five centuries and more, the garden and granary 
of the world. The condition of its agriculture, whether 
in Europe, Asiatic or African Turkey (Egypt and the 
Barbary States), would disgrace any semi-barbarian 
African tribe ; and, under its stupid and wasteful lack of 
cultivation, regions which, in the days of the old Roman 
Empire, furnished food and grain, fruits and spices, for 
the entire empire, now yield but a scanty subsistence to 
the mere handful of inhabitants which oppressive taxa- 
tion has left to till the fields. Its manufactures are of 
the very rudest and coarsest character, and its exports 
are almost wholly the product of the labor of the 
oppressed Christian rayahs or farmers. The Turk is in- 
dolent, and thinks it beneath his dignity to labor. He 
prefers to be an officer in the army, a zaptieh or police- 
man, a tax-collector, a civil officer, anything rather than 
a toiler in the field, or in the manufactory. He may con- 
descend to sell attar of roses, fig-paste, or silk goods, for 
then he is a merchant ; but below this his condescension 
cannot go. If he can exercise a little brief authority over 
some trembling giaour (infidel), or " Christian dog," he is 
in his element. Then all the savage in his nature comes 
out, and he readily demonstrates that five hundred years 
of contact with civilization have not sufficed to render 
him, except in mere externals, one whit less a barbarian 
than when he was clad in sheepskin, and rode with his 
clan on the steppes of higher Asia. That the Turk has 
proved himself utterly unworthy to dwell in the fair 
lands which he encumbers with his foul presence, is the 
testimony of all who know him ; that he is utterly in- 
capable of improvement seems to be proven by his abso- 
lute lack of progress in the arts, sciences, or civilization, 
in the past five centuries. Other nations were as rude 
and uncultivated as this when they first came under the 



INTRODUCTION. 



27 



influence of culture and refinement ; but they have not 
remained in that condition ; step by step, and sometimes 
by very rapid steps, they have attained a development 
and cultivation of their faculties, intellectual powers, and 
manners which has made them the peers of the most 
highly civilized nations in the world. This is wholly 
impossible to the Turk ; he may be dressed in the most 
fashionable style by a Parisian tailor, and he may 
have learned from skillful instructors the arts of the 
drawing-room, but he cannot or will not go farther. 
Underneath the fine apparel and the society manners, 
still dwells the savage and cruel spirit of the bashi- 
bazoult, the deceitful, lying, and brutal nature, which is 
no more to be trusted than the Bengal tiger or the 
laughing hyena. That there may be a few exceptions to 
this general character of the race is undoubtedly true, 
but they are so few, that they prove the truth of the de- 
scription by their marked individuality and difference of 
disposition from the great mass. 

To the truthfulness of this portraiture of the Turks 
the testimony is abundant and from the very highest 
sources. We have only room for extracts from two of 
the most eminent, though their sentiments are echoed 
in other words by all the rest. Mr. Nassau W. Senior, a 
distinguished publicist and political writer, long employed 
in various diplomatic capacities by the English Govern- 
ment, spent some years in Turkey, an-d thus gives his 
opinion of the Turkish Government and people : 

" Turkey exists for two purposes : first, to act as a dog 
in the manger, and to prevent any Christian power from 
possessing a country which she herself, in her present 
state, is unable to govern or protect ; and secondly, for 
the benefit of some fifty or sixty bankers and usurers, 
and some thirty or forty pashas, who make fortunes out 



28 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



of its spoils. I do not believe that the Turks are more 
idle, wasteful, improvident, and brutal now, than they 
were four hundred years ago. But it is only within the 
last fifty or seventy -five years that the effects of these 
"qualities have shown themselves fully. When they first 
swarmed over Asia Minor, Roumelia, and Bulgaria, they 
seized on a country very populous and of enormous 
wealth. For three hundred and fifty years they kept on 
consuming that wealth and wearing out that po]3uiation. 
If a Turk wanted a house or a garden, he turned out a 
rayah; if he wanted money, he put a bullet into a hand- 
kerchief, tied it into a knot, and sent it to the nearest 
opulent Greek or Armenian. At last, having lived 
for three centuries and a half on their capital of things 
and of man, having reduced that rich and well-peopled 
country to the desert which you now see it, they find 
themselves poor. They cannot dig, to beg they are 
ashamed. They use the most mischievous means to pre- 
vent large families ; they kill their female children, the 
conscription takes off the males, and they disappear. 
The amount of tyranny may be inferred from the depop- 
ulation. You see vast districts without an inhabitant, in 
which are the traces of a large and civilized people, great 
works for irrigation now in ruins, and constant remains 
of deserted towns. There is a city near the frontier, 
with high walls and large stone houses, now absolutely un- 
inhabited ; it had once sixty thousand inhabitants. In gov- 
ernment and religion Turkey is a detritus. All that gave 
her strength, all that gave her consistency, is gone ; what 
remains is crumbling into powder. The worst part of 
her religion — hatred of improvement, and hatred of the 
unbeliever; the worst parts of her detestable govern- 
ment — violence, extortion, treachery, and fraud — are all 
that she has retained. Never was there a country that 



INTRODUCTION. 



29 



more required to be conquered. I can see no other solu- 
tion ; the Turk is utterly unimprovable. He hates 
change and therefore he hates civilization ; he hates 
Europeans ; he hates and fears all that they propose. 
There is not a word of it that does not disgust, or 
irritate, or alarm him. Nothing but force will oblige 
him to give it even the appearance of execution. And 
what is the value of apparent reforms in a people with- 
out an aristocracy, without a middle class, without a 
public opinion, without the means of communication, 
without newspapers, without even a post-office; accus- 
tomed for four hundred years to plunder and oppress 
rayahs, and to be oppressed and plundered by sultans, 
pashas, cadis, and janissaries ? " 

The late Mr. Cobden, one of the ablest of English 
statesmen, had carefully watched the career of Turkey, 
and thus recorded his impressions ; after describing most 
eloquently the former fertility and productiveness of the 
region now subject to their sway, and its present de- 
serted and impoverished condition, he continues : " That 
in* a region so highly favored, the population should 
have thus retrograded whilst surrounded by abundance ; 
that its wealth and industry should have been anni- 
hilated; and that commerce should be banished from 
these rivers and harbors that first called it into existence 
— must be accounted for by remembering that even the 
finest soil, the most genial climate, and all the brightest 
and richest gifts of nature are as nothing when subjected 
to the benumbing influences of the Turkish Government 
at Constantinople. The Turks found, at the conquest 
of the Eastern Empire, splendid and substantial pub- 
lic and private edifices, which have been barbarously 
destroyed, or allowed to crumble beneath the hand 
of time. Bridges, aqueducts, and harbors, the precious 



30 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



and durable donations of remote yet more enlightened 
generations, have all suffered a like fate ; and the roads, 
even in the vicinity of the capital, which in former days 
maintained an unrivaled celebrity, are now in a broken 
and neglected condition. The cause of all this decay is 
to be ascribed to the Turkish Government, a fierce, un- 
mitigated, military despotism, allied with the fanaticism 
of a religion which teaches its followers to rely only on 
the sword, and to disdain all improvement by labor." 

"With this brief introduction to the people now con- 
quered, we will enter without further ceremony upon the 
subject in hand. 



CHAPTER L 



HISTORY OF RUSSIA. 

The history of Russia, while absolutely necessary to a 
clear comprehension of the conflict which has been car- 
ried on for nearly three hundred years between the 
Greek Cross and the Crescent, is well worthy of study, 
as illustrating the progress of a nation from barbarism 
to civilization, and also for the thrilling and wonderful 
events which it discloses. 

The history of European Russia, like that of all the 
nations of the European continent, begins in Asia, the 
cradle of the race. 

When Rome was still a small State upon the Tiber, 
and Greece had not yet achieved her greatest renown, 
the Scythians and Sarmatians, two nomad tribes, began 
to push their journeyings westward from the foot of the 
Altai chain of mountains, which had been their home in 
pre-historic times. They had been already, for centuries, 
the terror of the nations around the Caspian Sea, from 
their bravery, their nomadic life, their superb horseman- 
ship, and their skill in the use of the bow. They were 
barbarians in the true sense of the word ; but, in avoid- 
ing the culture of the more effeminate Persian and 
Median, they had also escaped their voluptuousness and 
their vices. Certainly as early as the eighth century 
31 



32 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



before Christ, and perhaps at a still earlier epoch, they 
had passed around the northern shores of the Caspian 
Sea, had crossed the Ural and the Volga rivers and en- 
camped on the shores of the Black Sea, and westward 
along the banks of the Dnieper, Dniester, and the Dan- 
ube. As time rolled on, other families of these same 
tribes followed, and pastured their herds on the broad 
plains of Central Russia. Other tribes, not closely allied 
to these, came from more northern regions of Asia, and 
crossing the Ural nearer its source, made their way into 
Northern Russia and Finland, and even penetrated to 
the northern portions of what is now Sweden and Nor- 
way. These were the Samoiedes and cognate tribes, and 
though perhaps of Caucasian race, like the Scythians 
and Sarmatians, long residence in the cold and sterile 
North had materially changed their complexions and 
habits. 

About the fifth century, the wild Sclavonians founded 
some remarkable settlements ; these were Novgorod, on 
the Ilmen, and Kief, or Kiew, on the Dnieper; where 
they afterwards became distinguished for their com- 
merce, their riches, and incipient civilization. The tribal 
groups of the north began, about the middle of the ninth 
century, to feel a want of unity, and of a system of gov- 
ernment better adapted to the civilization, which their in- 
tercourse with the Germans and the Greeks was introdu- 
cing. Embroiled in dissensions, and subject on the south- 
east to the exactions of Asiatic races encamped on the 
Volga and the Don, and on the northwest to the depre- 
dations of the sea-kings, the Sclavonians, according to an 
old chronicle, sent a deputation to the Variags, or Nor- 
mans, with the message and the invitation, " Our land is 
great and bountiful, but there is no order in it ; come 
and rule over us." In 864 Rurik, a Norman prince, took 



INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY. 



33 



up his residence at Novgorod, and there founded the Rus- 
sian monarchy, the sceptre of which continued to be held 
by his descendants for upwards of 700 years. Two of 
Rurik' s followers subsequently left him to seek their 
fortunes in the south, and on their journey to Constanti- 
nople they attacked the town of Kief, gained possession 
of it, and it thus became the capital of a second Sclavo- 
nian kingdom. 

Six sovereigns succeeded Rurik, who, with their mili- 
tary comrades or druyina, were constantly making war 
upon neighboring tribes, or fighting for the right of 
succession to the throne of Kief, then the capital of 
Russia. These princes all followed the pagan worship 
of their fathers ; but Vladimir, the seventh in descent, 
who possessed himself of the throne in 981, was con- 
verted to Christianity, originally introduced, although not 
established by Queen Olga, the fourth sovereign from 
Rurik, who embraced the Greek religion at Constanti- 
nople about the year 955. His panegyrists say that his 
nature became changed, the cruelty of his disposition 
gave way to clemency and humility, and when awarding 
punishments for crime, he is said to have exclaimed, 
" What am I, that I should condemn a fellow-creature to 
death ! " He also endeavored to overcome the violent j)re- 
judices and superstitions of his subjects by founding 
seminaries, with professors from Greece ; and from that 
classic land he likewise procured architects and other 
artisans to instruct his people in their several crafts. 
His military conquests embraced the whole of Poland. 
Vladimir, though a fratricide and a polygamist, deserved 
well of his cpuntry, and the Russian Church has enrolled 
him among the number of her saints. His son, Yaroslaf, 
who reigned thirty-five years, and died at the age of 
seventy-seven years, was a prince of considerable attain- 

» 



34 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



ments and a great patron of the arts ; the church of St. 
Sophia, at Novgorod, was by his order decorated with 
pictures and mosaics, portions of which remain to the 
present time. His wars with Boleslas of Poland, as 
well as his acquirements and the splendor in which 
he lived, made his name known and respected through- 
out Europe. Three of his daughters were married to 
the kings of France, Norway, and Hungary; and his 
eldest son, Vladimir, who died before him, espoused 
a daughter of the unfortunate Harold, the last of 
our SaxoD kings. Yaroslaf died in 1054, and, like his 
father, divided his territories among his sons. Vladimir 
Monomachus, his grandson, who died in the early part of 
the next century, did the same ; and as the princely 
house multiplied, the country was continually a prey to 
internal dissensions and strife. In the year preceding 
the death of Monomachus, Kief was nearly destroyed by 
fire, and from the great number of churches and houses 
that fell a prey to the flames, that city must have been 
of great opulence and extent. This calamity was fol- 
lowed in the succeeding reign by a still greater one, when 
the sister capital, Novgorod, was desolated by a famine 
so awful that the survivors were not sufficiently numer- 
ous to bury the dead, and the streets were blocked up 
by the putrid corpses of the inhabitants. 

The reigns which followed this period of Russian his- 
tory are distinguished by little else than continual civil 
wars, with this exception, that the town of Vladimir, 
built by Yury L, in 1158, became in that year the capi- 
tal, instead of Kief. But a formidable enemy drew near 
in the person of Tushi, the son of Zenghis Khan, who, 
emigrating with his Tartars westward, led them, about 
the year 1237, from the shores of the Sea of Aral and 
the Caspian, to those of the Dnieper. The Circassians 




TURKOMAN GIKL. 



IRRUPTION OF THE TARTARS. 



37 



and Polovtzes having endeavored in vain to arrest the 
progress of the horde, were at length constrained to 
apply to their hitherto inveterate foes for assistance, 
and the cause being now equally dear to all parties, the 
Russians made an intrepid stand on the banks of the 
Khalka. The impetuous attack, however, of the in- 
vaders was not to be withstood ; and the Prince of Kief 
treacherously abstaining from taking part in the battle, 
the Russians were completely routed, and scarcely a 
tenth part of an army composed of 100,000 men escaped. 
The enemy then pursued his way unmolested to the 
capital, which he took, and put 50,000 of the inhabit- 
ants of the principality of Kief to the sword. The 
further progress of the Tartars northward was marked 
by fire and bloodshed ; but having reached Novgorod 
Severski, they faced about and retreated to the camp of 
Zenghis Khan, who was at this time in Bukharia. Thir- 
teen years after, Baati Khan, his grandson, desolated 
Bussia again, committing every species of cruelty and 
many breaches of faith with the towns which submitted 
to his arms. In this manner the provinces of Biazan, 
Periaslavl, Bostof, and several others fell into his hands : 
for with incredible apathy, and contrary to their usually 
warlike inclinations, the Bussian princes neglected to 
raise any troops to dispute the progress of the Tartars ; 
and the attention of Yury II., Prince of Vladimir, was 
at that important juncture engrossed in celebrating the 
marriage of one of his boyars. Boused, at length, to a 
sense of his desperate position, he placed himself at the 
head of some troops hastily called together, and ]eft his 
family under -the protection of one of his nobles, trust- 
ing that his capital would be able to sustain a long siege. 
He was mistaken : the Tartars soon made themselves 
masters of Vladimir, and the princesses, as well as other 



38 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



persons of distinction, were burnt alive in the church in 
which they had taken shelter. On hearing of this tragi- 
cal event, Yury marched with his adherents to meet the 
foe : the contest was sanguinary and short ; but, after 
performing prodigies of valor, the Russians were borne 
clown by overpowering numbers, and the prince was left 
amongst the slain. There was nothing now to arrest 
the march of the ruthless Tartars, and they pushed for- 
ward to within sixty miles of Novgorod, when they 
again turned round without any ostensible motive and 
evacuated the Russian territory. The wretched condi- 
tion into which the southern and central parts of the 
empire were thrown by these invasions, afforded a most 
advantageous opportunity for other enemies to attack it ; 
and accordingly, in 1242, and during the reign of Yaros- 
laf II., the Swedes, Danes, and Livonians, sent a numer- 
ous and well-disciplined army to demand the submission 
of Novgorod ; this, Alexander, the son of the reigning 
prince, refused, and leaving his capital he advanced, 
unaided by any allies, to meet his opponents, and fought 
the celebrated battle of the Neva, which gained him the 
surname of Nevski and a place in the Russian calendar. 
The personal courage of Alexander in this battle was of 
the highest order, and mainly contributed to secure the 
victory. 

A cruel and constantly fluctuating war with the Tar- 
tars, various incursions by the Livonians, Lithuanians, 
Swedes, and Poles, and the most frightful civil discord 
amongst the several almost regal provinces of Russia, 
occupied fourteen successive reigns, between Yury II., 
who died in 1237, and Ivan I., who succeeded his father 
in the principality of Vladimir in 1328. At times, 
during this period, the Tartars arrogated to themselves 
the power of protectors of this or that interest ; and in 




METROPOLITAN AND HIS CLERGY. 



MOSCOW DESTROYED BY TARTARS. 



41 



the case of Ivan L, Uzbek Khan secured to him the pos- 
session of Novgorod, as well as of Vladimir and Mos- 
cow. Ivan's father had greatly beautified and improved 
the latter town, and Ivan followed his example and 
made it his residence. Here also resided the Metropoli- 
tan, and it therefore rapidly advanced in importance. 
Ivan's reign of thirteen years was remarkable as improv- 
ing and peaceful ; and he exercised a sound discretion 
in building a wall of wood round the city, which sup- 
ported a rampart of earth and stone. At the close of 
his life he took monastic vows, and died in 1341. In 
the reign of Ivan II., second son of the previous Czar of 
that name, Moscow established its pre-eminence as a 
city, and became the capital of the empire. Ivan died 
in 1358. 

Towards the close of this century the Russians, under 
Dimitri IV., raised an army of 400,000 men, and met the 
Tartars near the Don, and defeated them with great loss; 
the victors, however, suffered greatly, and when Dimitri 
reviewed his army after the battle he found it reduced to 
40,000 men ; this success obtained for him the surname 
of Donski. Subsequently, however, to this victory the 
Tartars again advanced, and Dimitri, betrayed by his 
allies, the princes of the neighboring states, deserted 
Moscow, which fell by capitulation into the hands 
of the Tartars, who devastated it with fire and sword 
until it was utterly destroyed, no building being per- 
mitted to remain except those which happened to 
have been constructed of stone by the Grand Prince. 
His son, Basil II., who succeeded him in 1389, was 
destined to £ee his country invaded by the Tartars 
under the great Timur, but they never reached the 
capital, for he prepared to give them battle on the river 
Oka, when they suddenly turned round and retired, as 



42 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



their countrymen had previously done on two other 
occasions. The Russians attributed this to a miracle 
performed by a picture of the Virgin Mary, painted by 
St. Luke. The horde, however, joined by the Lithuanians, 
afterwards laid siege to Moscow, but were repulsed by 
the inhabitants, the Grand Prince having retired with 
his family to Kostroma ; exasperated at this defeat, the 
Tartars in their retreat pillaged the surrounding countiy 
and slaughtered the defenseless peasantry. Money was 
first coined in Novgorod during this reign : hitherto its 
place had been supplied with skins and pieces of leather; 
twenty skins of the marten were considered as equivalent 
to a grivna, the value of which was a real pound of gold 
or silver, of nine and a quarter ounces in Kief, and thir- 
teen in Novgorod. 

During the reism of Basil, Russia was thrice visited 
with the plague and famine, while the ancient city of 
Novgorod was shaken by an earthquake, after the greater 
part of its buildings had been consumed by fire. Inter- 
nal dissensions broke out on the death of Basil, a dispute 
having arisen respecting the succession to the throne 
between the son of that monarch and his uncle George: 
this was, by the consent of both parties, left to the 
decision of the Khan of Tartary, who determined in 
favor of the former ; nevertheless, a civil war followed, 
and George was for a short time in possession of the 
throne, when, finding himself abandoned by his party 
and his family, he restored it to his nephew, and returned 
to his principality of Galitch. Complicated wars, Rus- 
sian and Tartar, followed; the principal incident of 
which was that Ivan, the Prince of Mojaisk, in the 
interest of the traitor Shemiaka, induced Basil to stop 
at the monastery of the Troitsa to return thanks on his 
arrival from the horde, and having seized him there, he 



DEFEAT OF THE GOLDEN HORDE. 



45 



took him to Moscow and put out his eyes. A few years 
after the Prince of Mojaisk had committed this savage 
act, Basil was restored to the throne, and died in 1462. 

The first exploit which Basil's successor, Ivan III. 
attempted, was the reduction of Kazan, in which he suc- 
ceeded, after two severe campaigns ; the next was the 
subjection of ^Novgorod, in which he also succeeded, 
incorporating that city and province with his own do- 
minions, and, having received the oaths of the inhabit- 
ants, he carried off with him to Moscow their celebrated 
Veche bell. The next and most arduous undertaking 
was the destruction of the Golden Horde under Akkmet, 
which he effected in revenue for the insult offered him 
by that Khan in demanding the homage which he had 
received from his predecessors. Ivan spat on the edict 
and on Akkrnet's seal, and put his ambassadors to death, 
sparing one only to convey the intelligence to his master, 
who prepared in the following year to take his revenge ; 
but, awed by the preparations made to receive him on 
the Oka, he retired for a time, and subsequently took 
the more circuitous route through Lithuania, from which 
country he expected support ; the Russians, however, 
met and defeated a part of his horde, and were return- 
ing home, when the Khan was met on a different route 
by the Nogay Tartars, who routed his army and slew 
him in the battle. His ally, Casimir IV., also brought 
himself under Ivan's indignation, not only for this war, 
but because he attempted to poison him, and a raid that 
he made into the territories of the Polish kins; was emi- 
nently successful. This powerful and ambitious prince 
also made treaties of alliance with, and received ambas- 
sadors from, the Pope, the Sultan, the kings of Denmark 
and Poland, and from the Republic of Venice ; it was 
he who assumed the title of Grand Prince of Novgorod, 



48 THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 

Vladimir, Moscow, and all Russia, and changed the arms 
of St. George on horseback, for the Black Eagle with two 
heads, after his marriage with a princess of the imperial 
blood of Constantinople. In fact, Ivan III. may I)e 
called the true founder of the modern Russian empire. 
The Russian historian Karamsin thus describes him : — 
" Without being a tyrant like his grandson, he had 
received from nature a certain harshness of character 
which he knew how to moderate by the strength of his 
reason. It is, however, said that a single glance of Ivan, 
when he was excited with anger, would make a timid 
woman swoon ; that petitioners dreaded to approach his 
throne, and that even at his table the boyars, his gran- 
dees, trembled before him ; " which portrait does not 
belie his own declaration, when the same boyars de- 
manded that he should give the crown to his grandson 
Ivan, whom he had dispossessed in favor of a son by his 
second wife,* " I will give to Russia whomsoever I 
please.'' He died, very infirm, in 1505, having reigned 
forty-three years. Wars between the Russians, the Poles, 
the Tartars, and the Novgorodians again arose on the 
death of Ivan ; and it was not till the death of Basil 
IV., his successor, and a minority of twelve years 
had elapsed in the reign of Ivan IV., that internal cabals 
and intrigues were for a time suppressed. This mon- 
arch, the first to take the title of Czar, married Anas- 
tasia, the daughter of Roman Yuryvitch, who, in the 
early part of his reign, had the happiest ascendency 
over a character naturally violent and cruel. Ivan 
was, at this period, affable and condescending, ac- 



* This second wife was Sophia, the daughter of Constantine, the last Greek 
Emperor, who reigned in Constantinople. She introduced into the Russian 
Court the luxurious customs of the Orient, the forms and ceremonies of the 
Byzantine Court, and the arts of Greece and Home. 



TVXN THE TERRIBLE, 



47 



cessible to both rich and poor, and bis mental powers, 
under her guidance, were employed in advancing the 
interests and happiness of his subjects. Ivan soon per- 
ceived that to preserve his own power he must annihilate 
the Tartar dominion ; to this he felt his uninstructed 
army was unequal: he therefore established, in 1545, the 
militia of the Streltsi, and armed them with muskets 
instead of bows — hitherto their arms — as their name im- 
ports, from Strela, an arrow. He then laid siege to and 
captured Kazan, taking the Khan prisoner. He likewise 
defeated Gustavus Wasa in a pitched battle near Wy- 
borg, ravaged Livonia, taking Dorpat, JNTarva, and thirty 
fortified towns, and made w T ar on the King of Poland 
because he had refused him his daughter in marriage. 
An unsuccessful campaign against this potentate, attrib- 
uted by the boyars to the unskillful arrangements of the 
foreign generals, as well as the death of his wife Anas- 
tasia, whose controlling influence was no longer felt, led 
to the unlimited indulgence of his naturally ferocious 
disposition ; and the remaining acts of his life, which 
this short sketch will not permit us to dilate upon, gained 
for him, in the history of his country, the surname of 
" The Terrible." Independently of the many and dread- 
ful acts of barbarity of which he was guilty, he killed his 
own son in a paroxysm of rage, but died a prey to the 
grief and remorse which this fearful crime occasioned, 
after having endeavored to atone for it, by giving large 
sums of money to different monasteries : he received the 
tonsure in his last moments. As a legislator he w r as su- 
perior to his predecessors, having, with the assistance of 
his nobles, compiled a code of laws called Sudebnik. In 
his reign, an English ship, commanded by Richard Chan- 
cellor, on a voyage of discovery in the Arctic Sea, an- 
chored in the mouth of the Dwina. Ivan controlled his 



48 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



religious prejudices, and tolerated the Lutheran churches 
of the German merchants at Moscow ; but he never shook 
hands with a foreign ambassador, without washing his 
own immediately after the visitor had taken his leave. 
With a character so strongly marked by cruelty, super- 
stition, and caprice, it is remarkable to find not only that 
he was enterprising and intelligent, but that he should 
have entertained the idea of placing the Scriptures in 
the hands of his subjects in the mother-tongue : he or- 
dered a translation to be made of the Acts and Epistles, 
and had it disseminated over his dominions. u In the 
memory of the people" observes Karamzin, " the brilliant 
renown of Ivan survived the recollection of his bad 
qualities. The groans had ceased, the victims were re- 
duced to dust ; new events caused ancient traditions to 
be forgotten, and the memory of this prince reminded 
people only of the conquest of three Mogul kingdoms. 
The proofs of his atrocious actions were buried in the 
public archives, whilst Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia 
remained in the eyes of the nation as imperishable mon- 
uments of his glory. The Russians, who saw in him the 
illustrious author of their power and civilization, reject- 
ed or forgot the surname of tyrant, given him by his con- 
temporaries. Under the influence of some confused 
recollections of his cruelty they still call him Ivan 1 The 
Terrible,' without distinguishing him from his grand- 
father, Ivan III., to whom Russia had given the same 
epithet rather in praise than in reproach. History does 
not pardon wicked princes so easily as do people." Ivan 
IV. died in 1584, having governed the Russian nation for 
a longer period than any other sovereign, namely, fifty- 
one years. 

Theodoue I. (Feodor), who ascended the throne after 



A PRIEST OF THE GREEK CHURCH. 



THE FALSE DMITRI. 



51 



his death, and was a feeble and vacillating prince, died 
in 1598. His successor was Boris Godunof, his wife's 
brother, who, like our own Richard, compassed the death 
of his nephew, Dmitri, son of Ivan the Terrible ; and 
therefore in Theodore ended the dynasty of Rurik, which 
during seven centuries had wielded the Russian sceptre. 
Consequent upon this deed came all kinds of civil calam- 
ities, and in 1604 a pretender to the throne arose in the 
person of a Russian monk named Otrepief. This man 
assumed the character of the murdered Dmitri, and after 
having drawn to his standard the Poles and the Cossacks 
of the Don, met Boris in the field, remained master of it, 
and for the space of one year seated himself on the 
throne. Otrepief Dmitri was a consummate actor, and 
possessed many qualities which fitted him to become an 
excellent ruler, but his Polish wife, his attachment to the 
Poles, and to the Roman Catholic faith, and his ill-con- 
cealed contempt for Russian ignorance and Russian man- 
ners, led to his downfall. Boris Godunof had committed 
suicide after his defeat, but Prince Vassili Shuiski, one 
of the boyars, or nobles, was put forward by the clergy 
to overthrow the impostor Dmitri, and succeeded in kill- 
ing him, and slaughtering great numbers of the Poles, 
May 24, 1606. Nor was this civil war the only calamity 
which befell the Russians during: the rei^n of Boris ; Mos- 
cow was, in 1600, visited by the most appalling famine 
that ever devastated the capital of a country. It is re- 
lated that, driven by the pangs of hunger, instances oc- 
curred of mothers having first slain and then eaten their 
own children ; and it is recorded that a woman, in her 
extremity, seized with her teeth the fiesh of her son, 
whom she carried in her arms. Others confessed that 
they had entrapped into their dwellings, and subse- 
quently killed and eaten, three men successively. One 



52 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



hundred and twenty-seven thousand corpses remained 
for some days in the streets unburied, and were after- 
wards interred in the fields, exclusive of those which 
had been previously buried in the four hundred churches 
of the city. An eye-witness relates that this awful visi- 
tation carried off 500,000 persons from the densely-peo- 
pled capital, the population of which was at the time 
augmented by the influx of strangers. During this 
dreadful calamity, Boris, with justifiable violence, broke 
open the granaries which avarice had closed, and had the 
corn sold at half its value. 

Serfage was instituted during the reign of Boris God- 
unof. By his advice a decree was issued, on the 24th of 
November, 1597, a year previous to the death of Theo- 
dore, forbidding peasants to leave the lands on which 
that date should find them. This was the first enact- 
ment that bound the peasantry firmly to the soil. Ear- 
lier traces of their attachment are, it is true, to be found 
in the middle of the thirteenth century, during the Tar- 
tar dominion, when a census was taken in 1257, in order 
to secure the regular collection of taxes. The inhabi- 
tants of towns and villages were then forbidden to leave 
them without permission, and the custom sprang up by 
degrees of restricting the migrations of the rural popu- 
lation to the commencement or termination of the aerri- 
cultural season. The custom was legalized in 1497, and 
confirmed by Ivan IV. in 1550; but the full and final 
attachment of the husbandman to the soil was not con- 
summated until the close of the sixteenth centurv. 

%> 

Interminable and inexplicable troubles, a second false 
Dmitri, and other impostors, led, after the short reign of 
Vassili Shuiski (1G05-1606), to the occupation of Moscow 
by the Poles, in 1610, who entered the city withVladislaus, 



THE POLES DRIVEN OUT. 



53 



son of Sigismund, King of Poland, elected to the throne 
by the boyars, on condition that he should embrace the 
Greek religion. This gave great offense to the national 
feeling, and Minin, a citizen of Nijni-Novgorod, called 
his countrymen to arms, and entreated the boyar Pojar- 
ski to take the command. This he did without reluct- 
ance, and his army was quickly increased by the arrival 
of troops and money from various towns, and by the 
Cossacks and Streltsi, who nocked to his banner. Thus 
strengthened, they marched to Yaroslaf, and afterwards 
to Moscow, to which they laid siege, carried the Kitai 
Gorod by assault, and made a fearful slaughter of the 
Poles ; when the occupants of the Kremlin, driven to 
the last extremity by famine, surrendered, and Vladis- 
laus abandoned the country. 

In 1613, after the night of Vladislaus, the States-Gen- 
eral, convoked by the boyars and military chiefs, pro- 
ceeded to elect as their Czar, Michael Romanoff, the son 
of the Metropolitan of Eostof, who was at the time only 
sixteen years of age. He was proclaimed Czar of all the 
Russias, without the title of Autocrat, enjoyed by the 
Sovereigns after Ivan III., and the Act of Election stipu- 
lated many important rights to the people. Civil strife 
and foreign wars continued after the accession of Mich- 
ael ; and that in which the Czar was involved with 
Gustavus Adolphus was terminated, not much to the 
advantage of Russia, through the mediation of England, 
France, and Holland. A treaty was signed by the bellig- 
erent parties on the 26th of January, 1616, which gave 
to Sweden, Ingria, Carelia, Livonia, and Esthonia, the 
Russians retaining Novgorod. The Poles were at that 
time masters of Smolensk, and ravaged the country up 
to the walls of Moscow, against which they made a night 
attack, but were repulsed ; they remained, however, in 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



possession of Smolensk, after sustaining a siege of two 
years. Dragoons are mentioned for the first time in this 
reign, as forming part of a Russian army, and the Czar 
was assisted in his wars by both German and French 
troops ; these regiments served him as models for the or- 
ganization of the Russian army, which was further im- 
proved by the discipline introduced by Scottish officers. 
After a reign distinguished by an enlightened policy and 
virtuous habits, the Czar died in July, 1645, at the age 
of forty-nine years. His son Alexis, who was a prince 
of a mild and benevolent disposition, succeeded him. 
The chief events of his reign were the marauding expe- 
ditions of the Cossacks of the Don, led by Stenka Razin, 
a rebellion in the city of Astrakhan, and the appearance 
of another Pretender, who was brought captive to Mos- 
cow, and put to a violent and cruel death. In this reign 
shipwrights came over from Holland and England, and a 
Dutchman named Butler built a vessel called the Easde, 
at Dedinova, a village on the Oka river, near the mouth 
of the Moskwa. This was the first ship that the Russians 
had seen built on scientific principles. The Czar Alexis 
directed his attention to le^al reforms, and his rei^n is 
most remarkable for the improvements which he intro- 
duced. The States-General, a body composed of dele- 
gates from all classes, and first summoned in 1550, after 
the suppression of the old Veche or Wittenagemotes, 
were convoked in 1648, for the compilation of a new 
code of laws. Little Russia and Red Russia (Galicia), 
conquered by Casimir the Great in the 14th century, 
submitted to Alexis. Alexis died in 1676, and was suc- 
ceeded by his son Theodore III., who died young in 
1682. During the short period allotted him for the ex- 
ercise of power he evinced every disposition to carry out 
his father's plans ; he directed his attention to the im- 



THE REIGN OE SOPHIA. 



55 



provement of the laws, and rendered justice accessible to 
all, and, in the words of a Russian historian, " lived the 
joy and delight of his people, and died amidst their sighs 
and tears. On the day of his death Moscow was in the 
same distress that Home was on the death of Titus." 
The sovereignty of the Cossacks was secured to Russia 
in this reign. Theodore left no children, and named no 
successor, expecting, no doubt, that his own brother 
Ivan would succeed him. That prince, however, was both 
mentally and physically incapable of holding the rein? 
of government, and, in consequence, his sister Sophia- 
was intrusted with the affairs of state bv the Streltsi, 
who had arrogated to themselves the power of the Prae- 
torian bands and decided that the Czar's half-brother, 
Peter, afterwards the Great, son of Natalia, Alexis's 
second wife, should share the throne with him. The two 
boys were therefore crowned together by the Patriarch 
on the loth of June, 1682, but Sophia actually reigned. 
Subsequently to this the Prince Khovanski, leader of the 
Streltsi, not only neglected to cultivate the princess's 
friendship, but allowing her to perceive that he and his 
men watched her proceedings, she determined upon his 
ruin, which was further hastened by the intrigues of his 
known enemy, Miloslavski. This boyar accused him, in 
a public placard, of having, with his son and his Streltsi, 
conspired to effect the death of the two Czars, and the 
destruction of the family of Pomanoff ; and, under this 
accusation, Khovanski and his son were seized and be- 
headed. Their followers, at first furious at Khovanski's 
death, afterwards becoming disheartened at the prepara- 
tions made to resist and punish them, proceeded to the 
monastery of the Troitsa, and made their submission to 
Natalia and the Czars, who had fled there for refuge. 
Subsequently Sophia still contrived, with the assistance 



56 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



of her Minister Galitzin, to govern Russia, until she af- 
fronted Peter, who retired to the town of Kolomna, to 
which place he was followed by a large party; and soon 
after this, being informed that the Streltsi were again in 
revolt, under Sophia's influence, Natalia once more re- 
moved him to the fortified walls of the Troitsa. It was 
in vain that Sophia disclaimed this accusation. Peter 
neither believed her nor forgave her; and, failing in her 
attempt to reach Poland, she was incarcerated in a mon- 
astery for the rest of her life. This princess was, con- 
sidering the times in which she lived, a woman of extra- 
ordinary taste and literary acquirements. A tragedy, 
written by her when she was involved in state intrigues, 
and apparently absorbed in political turmoil, is still pre- 
served. On Peter's return from the Troitsa to Moscow, 
his brother resigned to him his share in the government, 
and in 1689 he became sole Czar, being, at that time, 
only seventeen years of age. Ivan survived till 1696. 

The ruling passion of Peter the Great was a desire to 
extend his empire and consolidate his power; and ac- 
cordingly, his first act was to make war on the Turks, an 
undertaking which was at the outset imprudently con- 
ducted, and consequently unsuccessful ; he lost 30,000 
men before Azof, and did not obtain permanent posses- 
sion of the town till the year 1699, and then by an 
armistice. In the following year he was defeated at 
Narva by an inferior force, under Charles XII., then only 
a boy of seventeen ; and on many other occasions the 
Russians suffered severe checks and reverses. But at 
length the indomitable perseverance of Peter prevailed. 
St. Petersburg was founded in 1703, under the circum- 
stances detailed elsewhere. In 1705, lie carried Narva, 
the scene of his former defeat, by assault ; and two years 
after, by the crowning victory of Poltava, where he 



PETER THE GREAT. 



59 



showed tlie qualities of an able general, he sealed the 
fate of his gallant and eccentric adversary, and that of 
the nation over which he ruled. In 1711 Peter once 
more took the field against the Turks ; but his troops 
were badly provisioned, and, having led them into a very 
disadvantageous position near the Pruth, he was reduced 
to propose a peace, one of the conditions of which was 
that the King of Sweden should be permitted to return 
to his own country. From this period to 1718, he was 
constantly occupied in pursuing with vigor the plans 
which he had originated for extending the frontiers of 
his kingdom towards the sea ; and in 1718, he drove the 
Swedes out of Finland, made several descents upon the 
coast near Stockholm, destroyed whole towns, and finally, 
in 1721, by the peace of Nystadt, regained Esthonia, 
Livonia, Ingria, a part of Carelia and Finland, as well as 
the islands of Dago, Moen, Oesel, etc. Having now no 
enemy on this side, he turned his arms eastward, and 
took Derbend, on the Caspian, in 1724 — an inglorious 
conquest, for only 6,000 men were opposed to his veteran 
army of 11,000, besides Cossacks and Kalmucks. This 
was his last military achievement, for he died in 1725, in 
the fifty-second year of his age. 

We have said that the Czar's ruling passion was to ex- 
tend his empire and consolidate his power, but he like- 
wise possessed in an eminent degree a persevering mind 
and a resolute will, which bid defiance to all difficulties. 
By the assistance of his foreign officers, he succeeded in 
forming and bringing into a high state of discipline, 
a large army ; he found Russia without a fishing-smack 
and bequeathed to her a navy, to which that of Sweden, 
long established and highly efficient, lowered her flag ; he 
built St. Petersburg, which may be said to float upon the 
waters of the Neva; he caused canals and other works 



60 THE CONQUEST OE TURKEY. 

of public utility to be constructed in various parts of the 
empire, endowed colleges and universities, and estab- 
lished commercial relations with China, and almost every 
other nation on the globe. 

The Czar likewise possessed the capability of endur- 
ing privation and bodily fatigue, to an almost incredible 
extent, and seemed to act upon the idea that by his own 
personal exertions and the versatility of his genius he 
could accomplish for Russia, that which it had taken cen- 
turies to effect in other countries, and fancied he could 
infuse into her citizens an immediate appreciation of the 
mechanical and polite arts, as well as a taste for those 
things which are seen only in an advanced stage of civili- 
zation. Peter devoted his whole attention and energies 
to this theory, and though he could not compass impossi- 
bilities, he was enabled, by the uncontrolled exercise of 
the imperial will and inexhaustible resources, to effect a 
most extraordinary and rapid change in the political and 
physical condition of his country. The States-General 
were no more to be summoned. The Czar now reigned 
alone, without even the old Chamber or Council of 
Boyars, that had existed through so many previous 
reigns. In their place he founded the Senate, or High 
Court of Justice, which is preserved to this day. His 
system of administration was founded on the Swedish 
collegiate institutions. Dissent from the Church was 
very much increased by his reforms, which even included 
the shaving of beards. The opponents of the ritual of 
Nikon styled him the Antichrist. 

The manual dexterity and mechanical knowledge of 
Peter were great. Against the expressed wish of his 
boyars and the clergy, who thought it an irreligious act, 
lie left Russia to make himself acquainted with the arts 
and inventions of other European nations, and worked 



petee's adventuees m London. 



63 



with an adze in their principal dockyards — lie not only 
built, but sailed his own boat, which is still to be seen 
in St. Petersburg, as are specimens of his engraving, turn- 
ing, and carpenter's work. He rose at four, at six he was 
either in the senate or the admiralty, and his subjects 
must have believed that he had the gift of ubiquity, so 
many and various were his occupations. He had also the 
virtue of economy, a quality rarely seen in a sovereign. 
He even found time for literature, and translated several 
works into Russian ; amongst these was the " Architec- 
ture " of Leclerc, and the "Art of Constructing Dams and 
Mills," by Sturm ; these MSS. are preserved. During 
the Czar's visit to London, he was much gazed at by the 
populace, and on one occasion was upset by a porter, who 
pushed against him with his load, when Lord Carmar- 
then, fearing there would be a pugilistic encounter, turned 
angrily to the man, and said, " Don't you know that this 
is the Czar \ " " Czar ! " replied the man, with his tongue 
in his cheek, "we are all Czars here." Sauntering one 
day into Westminster Hall with the same nobleman, 
when it was, as usual, alive with wigs and gowns, Peter 
asked who these people might be, and, when, informed 
that they were lawyers, nothing could exceed his aston- 
ishment. " Lawyers ! " he said, " why, I have but two in 
all my dominions, and I believe I shall hang one of them 
the moment I get home." His vices were such as were to 
be expected in a man of his violent temperament, des- 
potic in a barbarous country, and who, in early life, had 
been surrounded by flatterers and dissolute associates. 
The Russians date their civilization from his reign; 
but a slight glance at the history of some of the early 
Czars will show that, in many of the points on which 
the greatness of his reputation rests, he was anticipated 
by his predecessors. Dark and savage as the history of 



64 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



the country was, an attempt at public education had been 
made, religious toleration and an anxiety to promote com- 
merce existed, and the institution of a code of laws had 
already occupied attention. The untimely deaths of some 
of these princes deprived Russia of monarchs far more 
benevolent than Peter, men of finer and more generous 
minds, and though not so ambitious, quite as anxious 
for her welfare. Under their sway, no such rush at im- 
provement would have been made; no such influx of 
foreigners would have taken place ; but, if not so 
rapidly, at least as surely, these sovereigns would have 
effected quite as much real good. Peter left no code 
of laws established on the broad principles of justice; he 
traveled in England and Holland, but thought only of 
their navies, and wholly overlooked the great principles 
of their government, by which he might have ameliorated 
the condition of his own. Trial by jury never appears 
to have attracted his attention. The Czar, it is true, 
reigned over a nation of serfs — so did Alfred, and in the 
9th, instead of the 18th century. The death of his son 
Alexis, in the fortress of St. Petersburg, whether by 
violence or from the effects of torture, is an indelible 
blot on his character. The unhappy Czarovitch was op- 
posed to his father's reforms, and fled his dominions. In. 
duced by Peter to return to Russia, he was thrown into 
a dungeon, where he suddenly died, after a cross-examin- 
ation, conducted by the Czar in person, and a frequent 
application of torture. The Empress Catherine survived 
Peter only two years, dying at the age of thirty-nine. 
The reduction of the capitation tax was the most popu- 
lar act of her short reign, and Delille, Baer, and the Ber- 
nouillis were the most distinguished members of the 
Academy of Sciences, which Peter had left her to open. 
Peter, the son of Alexis, and grandson of Peter the 



REIGN OF ANNE OF COURLAND. 



65 



Great (by his first wife Eudoxia, who survived Cath- 
erine), died of the smallpox at the age of fifteen ; in him 
the male line of the Romanoffs became extinct. His in- 
tellect was good, and though so young, he gave great 
1 promise of being an honor and a blessing to his coun- 
try. Anne, Duchess of Courland, who succeeded this 
youthful sovereign, was daughter of Ivan, half-brother 
of Peter the Great; she died in 1740, after reigning ten 
years. Her chief merit was in advancing the commerce 
of the country, and establishing silk and woolen manu- 
factories — her chief folly, the building of a palace of 
ice, to which she sent one of her buffoons and his wife 
to pass the night of their wedding-day, the nuptial 
couch being also constructed of that cold material, as 
well as all the furniture, and the four cannons which 
fired several rounds. 

The Duchess of Courland was elected to the throne 
by the nobles, who caused her to subscribe to a consti- 
tution or charter, of which the principal points were 
that — " Without the advice of the council, rendered irre- 
movable, the sovereign could neither declare war, nor 
make peace ; nor could he choose a successor, appoint to 
the higher offices of State, or impose new taxes. The 
sovereign was not to punish the gentry, either corporally 
or by the infliction of fines, without submitting their 
offences to the ordinary courts of justice." The Empress 
availed herself of the discord which soon reigned in her 
council to re-establish the absolutism she had surren- 
dered. A sham revolution was organized by exciting the 
jealousy of the inferior nobility, and by acting on the 
ignorance of the lower classes. A populace having 
assembled in front of the palace, and asked to see the 
Empress, she pointed out to Prince Dolgorukof , the High 



66 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Chancellor, that the people were desirous that she should 
govern like her ancestors. " What/' she asked, " have 
you said in your Constitution ? " Taking the Charter 
from the trembling hand of the prince, she tore it into 
pieces before the applauding multitude. Her favorite, 
Biren, Duke of Courlancl, caused all the members of the 
Dolgoruki faction to be either broken on the wheel or 
banished to the mines of Siberia forever. 

A war which was prosecuted against the Turks in this 
reign ended to the disadvantage of Russia, and as the 
price of j>eace, Azof, Otchakof, and Moldavia were 
given up to the Porte. Intrigues drove Ivan VI., the 
infant son of the Princess of Brunswick, niece of the 
Empress Anne, from the throne, and in 1741, Elizabeth, 
daughter of Peter the Great, took possession of it. 
Ivan was first imprisoned in a monastery, but, having 
attempted to escape, was removed to the Castle of 
Schliisselburg, where he was put to death. 

The reign of Elizabeth was one series of wars and in- 
trigues, and wholly unfavorable to the intellectual im- 
provement and progress of the people. The Swedes 
thought this a favorable moment to recover their ancient 
possessions, but were obliged to agree to a peace on the 
basis of that of Nystadt. Detesting Frederic for some 
coarse remark levelled at her mother, Elizabeth made 
war with Prussia, which lasted from 1753 to 1762, the 
year of her death. The taste of this empress for archi- 
tecture greatly contributed to embellish St. Petersburg, 
and the Academy of Fine Arts in that capital was in- 
stituted by her ; but she was a model of hypocrisy, and 
while from feelings of pretended humanity she abolished 
capital punishments, and deplored the miseries her troops 
suffered in the war with Prussia, she established a kind 
of Star Chamber, in which justice and mercy were un- 



REIGN OF PETER III. 



07 



known. Peter III., son of the Princess Anne, eldest 
daughter of Peter the Great, succeeded Elizabeth, and 
being a great friend of Frederic, he immediately made 
peace with Prussia ; he also suppressed the secret council 
established for the examination of political offenders, 
softened the rigor of military discipline, permitted his 
nobles to travel, lowered the duties in the Livonian 
ports, reduced the price of salt, and abated the pressure 
of usury by the establishment of a loan bank, and in- 
stituted other salutary and wise measures. He was, 
however, of a weak and vacillating disposition, and his 
tastes were entirely German, which amounted to a crime 
in the eyes of the nobility ; this and the intrigues of his 
wife, afterwards the Empress Catherine II., whom he 
grossly neglected, led to his downfall, and he died by 
suffocation at Ropsha in 1762. 



CHAPTER II. 



HISTOET OF RUSSIA, CONTINUED. 

The reign of Catherine II. is one of the most remark- 
able in Russian history. In the early part of it she in- 
terfered in the affairs of Poland, which produced a civil 
war, and ended in the conquest of that country. In 1769 
the Turks declared war, which was at first favorable to 
their arms ; they were afterwards defeated with great 
slaughter on the Dniester, and abandoned Khotin. At 
this period was fought the celebrated action before 
Tchesme, in which the Turkish fleet was completely de- 
stroyed, an achievement that was mainly owing to the 
gallant conduct of Admirals Elphinstone and Greig, and 
Lieutenant Du^dale, Englishmen in the Russian service. 
In another campaign the Russians carried the lines of 
Perecop, defended by 57,000 Turks and Tartars, and 
thus obtained possession of the Crimea, while Rumiant- 
soff gained several victories in the Danubian provinces. 
These conquests were, however, dearly purchased; the 
plague passed from the Turks into the Russian armies, 
and the frightful malady was carried by the troops 
into the very heart of the country ; 800 j)ersons died 
daily at Moscow, and the disease subsided only with the 
severity of the winter. It was in this year that the Kal- 
muck Tartars, who had been upwards of half a century 
settled near the steppes of the Volga, north of Astra- 
khan, suddenly, and to the number of 350,000 souls, left 

68 



THE TRICKS OF DIPLOMACY. 



60 



the Russian territory for their old haunts on the Chi- 
nese border — an affront offered to them by the Em- 
press, is said to have been the cause of this extraordinary 
flight. Every attempt at negotiation having failed, the 
contest with the Turks was renewed in 1773 ; and though 
the Russians again suffered severe losses, Rumiantsoff 
brought the war to a successful termination; and, by 
the treaty of peace concluded in 1774, his country ob- 
tained the free navigation of the Euxine, the cession of 
Kinburn, Yenikale, with a tract between the Bug, the 
Dnieper, and Taganrog. Russia restored her other con- 
quests, and the Turks paid into the Russian Treasury 
4,000,000 rubles towards the expenses of the war ; 
they also acknowledged the independence of the Crimea, 
which in the year 1784 fell altogether into the hands of 
Russia, as well as the island of Taman and part of the 
Kuban. Shortly after this, Catherine and the northern 
courts, with France, jealous of British maritime power, 
brought about a combination against England, which was 
hastened by the following singular incident : The Brit- 
ish minister, fearing that this intrigue was going on, de- 
sired Potemkin to lay before the empress a memorial 
that he had drawn up, which the prince promised to do. 
Of this memorial the French governess of his nieces con- 
trived to possess herself, and, after allowing the French 
minister to make his notes in refutation of it in the mar- 
gin, replaced it in Potemkin's pocket, who, ignorant of 
the circumstance, laid it before Catherine ; when the em- 
press, conceiving the notes to have been made by her 
favorite, formed a league with Sweden and Denmark, 
and announced her intention of supporting it with her 
navy. In 1787 she made, in company with Potemkin 
and an immense suite, her famous progress to the Crimea, 
and the following year found her once more at war with 



70 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



the Turks. Finland was invaded by Gustavus III. soon 
after. This contest was settled by a pacification in 1790. 
In the close of that year Constantinople trembled at the 
forward movement of the Russians, and the fall of 
Ismail under Suwaroff, after the ninth assault, closed the 
war on the 2 2d of December. In this extremity Europe 
combined to save the Porte from destruction, and in 1791, 
Russia relinquished all the territory she had acquired, 
excepting that guaranteed by the treaty of 1784. In 
these wars with' the Ottoman Empire there were de- 
stroyed 130,000 Austrians, 200,000 Russians, and 370,- 
000 Turks, in all 660,000 men. About this time the 
intrigues of Russia, Austria, and Prussia, for the parti- 
tion of Poland, commenced and carried on for several 
years, were brought to a conclusion by two sieges of 
Warsaw ; in the first Kosciusko was made prisoner, and 
in the second the Poles, unassisted by his genius, gave 
way in that fearful assault which, on the 9th Novem- 
ber, 1794, consummated the ruin of Poland as a nation. 
Catherine's subsequent plans of aggrandizement in Dag- 
hestan, and on the shores of the Caspian, were cut short 
by her death, on the 9th November, 1796. The great 
talents for governing which the empress possessed are 
universally admitted ; and, though her energies were 
principally displayed in carrying out her schemes of for- 
eign conquest, she by no means neglected the interior 
economy of her empire. Her views on all subjects were 
far more enlarged than those of her predecessors, and 
upwards of 6,800 children were educated at St. Peters- 
burg at the public expense. She invited Pallas, Eiiler, 
and Gmelin to survey her territories and describe their 
characteristics, and requested D'Alembert to undertake 
the education of her grandson, the Grand Duke Alexan- 
der, which he declined. The empress also confirmed the 



Catherine's reforms. 



71 



abolition of the secret state inquisition, and, by dividing 
the administrative colleges of the empire into separate 
departments, facilitated the despatch of business, and ren- 
dered the administration in each more efficient. With a 
view to check corruption, she raised the salaries of the 
government officers, put down many monopolies of the 
crown, and issued an ukase which prevented any pro- 
prietor from sending his serfs to the mines, or to any dis- 
tant part of the empire, except for agricultural purposes. 
She purchased the praises of the French philosophers, 
corresponded with Voltaire and D'Alembert, and com- 
plimented Fox by asking him for his bust, which she 
placed between those of Cicero and Demosthenes. 

Catherine came to the throne eager for fame and anx- 
ious to put into practice the philosophic doctrines of the 
age. It may even be said that she was desirous of 
reigning constitutionally, as far as serfage would permit 
her. But she was most anxious to be a lawgiver, and 
her more liberal advisers took advantage of her ambition 
and promoted the cause of representative government, 
such as had existed in Russia under the form, first of the 
Veche, then of meetings of the States-General. A com- 
mission was composed of 565 deputies from the nobility, 
the inhabitants of towns, the military colonies, and the 
foreign races subject to the empire, as well as from the 
senate, the synod, and other public offices. This com- 
mission — a Parliament in all but the name — met on the 
31st July, 1767, at Moscow, and, after listening to the 
representations made by the several interests, drew up 
the drafts of laws which Catherine subsequently enacted, 
and which* contributed greatly to the glory of her reign. 
But the Assembly having commenced an inquiry into 
the evils of serfage, the empress dissolved it on the 29th 
December of the same year. 



72 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



The Empress Catherine introduced important changes 
into the condition of the nobility and clergy. The his- 
tory of these may be here epitomized. The comrades, or 
drujina, of the early princes of Russia long retained a no- 
madic character. They passed from one prince to another 
as those princes ascended in the scale of primogeniture 
and passed on to the throne of Kief. They acquired no 
lands, and lived on the contributions which they levied 
on the Zemstvo, or " people of the land," as distinguished 
from the servants of the sovereign. On the establish- 
ment of the throne of Muscovy, the drujina of the 
deposed princes repaired to Moscow for enrployment in 
the service of the State, and styled themselves bonds- 
men of the Czar. At his court they quarrelled per- 
petually about the right of precedence. Each family 
guarded jealously its position in relation to other fami- 
lies; and each individual above the condition of a 
laborer had an hereditary right, most intricately regu- 
lated, to a certain social position, which he spent his 
whole life in asserting. The nobles having become un- 
ruly during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, that sover- 
eign put to death a considerable number of his servants, 
and kept the rest in subordination with a new class 
of nobles, the Opritchna, who carried out his instruc- 
tions with unsparing brutality. They murdered their 
victims openly in the streets, and, led by the Czar, 
visited villages during the night, and razed them to the 
ground. It was with the assistance of these servants 
that Ivan IV. subjected all his lieges to despotic govern- 
ment. The old boyars deserted to the Prince of Lithu- 
ania, and many were caught and punished. After that 
reign the older families succeeded in causing Shuiski, one 
of their order, to be elected Czar : but on the accession 
of Michael Bonianoff, all their privileges were abolished, 



RUSSIAN NOBLES. 



73 



and the code of 1649, drawn up by the States-General, 
or Zemstvo, rendered all subjects equal before the law. 
The nobles, however, now began to acquire lands which 
they at first held as feudatories under the Crown, liable 
to military service. Peter the Great converted those 
lands into freeholds, and at the same time bound the 
proprietors to perpetual service. The senate called up 
the young boyars from the country, and allotted civil 
and military functions to them. In 1736 the period of 
service was reduced to twenty-five years, and in 1761 
nobles were allowed the discretion of serving the State 
or not. As every nobleman had been obliged to serve, 
so every man that served the Crown acquired nobility 
through his chin, or official rank. The nobility are still 
styled " courtiers " in the Russian language, and a clii- 
novnilc is always a nobleman. 

An important feature in the social life of Russia, is 
that the right of primogeniture does not exist, except 
in a few great families. By an ukase of 1721, Peter I. 
desired to introduce an inheritance in fee of the eldest 
son, but this was so much opposed to the customs and 
traditions of the people that it was abandoned. Peter 
II. cancelled the ukase in 1728. 

Under the predecessors of Catherine the courtiers had 
assumed a considerable amount of power, and now de- 
manded a better position in the State. Catherine II. 
granted them a charter in 1785, by which the nobles of 
each province were formed into a corporation, with the 
power of electing judges and various rural officers. They 
moreover acquired the right of meeting triennial] y, for 
the discussion of their wants and interests. A property 
qualification and official rank were required of the mem- 
bers of these assemblies, who were exempted from cor- 
poral punishment, compulsory service, and personal tax- 



74 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



ation. They Lad already acquired, in 1754, the exclu- 
sive right of holding serfs. The Emperor Paul annulled 
this charter, but it was restored by Alexander L 

The changes in the condition of the clergy have been 
as follows : In ancient Russia they enjoyed many special 
privileges and the right of administering justice on all 
Church lands. Ivan IV. prohibited the attachment of 
land to churches, and sought to make the Metropolitan 
dependent on his will. The patriarchate was established 
under his son, but abolished by Peter, who, warned by 
the example of Nikon, substituted the Holy Synod. The 
present Metropolitans have ecclesiastical jurisdiction 
only within their several bishoprics or provinces, and 
are subject to the Synod. Peter the Great considerably 
limited the power of the clergy. He converted the 
monasteries into hospitals, and filled them with soldiers. 
Monks were not allowed the use of ink in order that 
they might not publish libels, and the clergy generally 
were made amenable to the civil law. Peter the Great 
also established a scale of fees, to which, in the reign of 
Nicholas, were added regular salaries, the village priest 
receiving 70 rubles per annum ($50), and his clerk 30 
rubles ($22.50), in addition to a glebe of 33 dessiatinas 
(about 85 acres). The churches in towns likewise pos- 
sess houses and other real property, which pay no taxes, 
but their priests receive no salaries from the State. 
Catherine II. took away the serfs and lands held by the 
monasteries. They had acquired no fewer than 900,000 
male serfs ; the Troitsa monastery alone possessing 
100,000. In return, she freed the monks from the lia- 
bility of quartering troops, from corporal punishment, 
and from compulsory service. Some of the monasteries 
were placed in direct dependence on the Holy Synod, 
and others were left under the control of the several 



PRIVILEGES OF TOWNS. 



75 



"bishops, who were, however, disqualified from depriving 
a priest of his holy office without the decision of the 
Synod. 

The inhabitants of towns were much improved in 
their condition under Catherine II. They were not 
anciently distinct from the agricultural population, and 
the town lands were held by private individuals. The 
Czar Alexis, however, declared that those lands belonged 
to the Crown. Peter the Great gave them special 
courts of law, and generally promoted the welfare of the 
mercantile classes ; the Empress Catherine gave them a 
charter in 1785, on the model of the nobility charter, 
with the right of electing mayors and magistrates. The 
merchants were divided into guilds, and obtained an 
exclusive privilege of trade. Nothing was, however, 
done during her reign to remove the evils of serfage; 
on the contrary, alarmed at the readiness with which the 
peasantry joined a formidable insurrection under Pugat- 
chef, the empress placed them still more under the con- 
trol of the landed proprietors, who were then invested 
with judicial and executive j>owers. 

Catherine, possessed of great beauty in her youth, pre- 
served the traces of it to the end of her life; in matters 
of religion she was tolerant from political motives, ex- 
travagant in an extraordinary degree, and, with a wom- 
an's liberality, paid well those who served her; and 
though there are many acts in her reign which cannot be 
defended, she did more for the civilization of Kussia 
than any of her predecessors. She was succeeded by 
her son Paul, whose short reign, to 1801, was not of any 
great historical importance. At his coronation he de- 
creed a law of hereditary succession to the crown in 
the male line, and afterwards in the female, instead of 



76 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



leaving it to the caprice of the reigning Czar. The 
Emperor declared war against the French in 1799, sent 
an army into Italy to oppose the republican generals, 
and through the intervention of England, Suwaroff, who 
had been banished from the capital by Paul, was recalled, 
and placed at the head of it. But the campaign in Italy, 
successful at first, ended unfavorably to the Russian 
arms — when the Emperor suddenly became a great ad- 
mirer of Bonaparte; and, with the same inconsistency 
that exiled Suwaroff, he liberated Kosciusko; subse- 
quently the eccentricity of his actions led to the conclu- 
sion that he was of unsound mind. Amongst his ukases 
was one against the use of shoe-strings and round hats ; 
and in the number of his eccentricities was a rage for 
painting, with the most glaring colors, the watch-boxes, 
bridges, and gates throughout the empire. The career 
of Paul was closed in March, 1801, probably by assassi- 
nation, like that of Peter III., at the castle of St. Peters- 
burg, where he then resided. 

Alexander, his eldest son, succeeded to the throne, 
being then 24 years of age. In the same year he recalled 
the Siberian exiles, suppressed the secret inquisition, re- 
established the power of the senate, founded, in 1804, 
the University of Kharkoff, and emancipated the Jews. 
In 1805 the Emperor joined the Northern Powers against 
France, and on the 2d December the Austro-Russian 
army was defeated at Austerlitz. In 180G, Mr. Fox 
having failed in negotiating a peace between France and 
Russia, Napoleon overran Prussia, and, Benningsen hav- 
ing evacuated Warsaw, Murat entered that city on the 
28th November. On the 2Gth December the French 
were beaten at Pultovsk, and in February, 1807, the 
severely contested battle of Eylau was fought, each side 
having three times lost and won, the deciding move 



NAPOLEON I. IN RUSSIA. 



77 



being made by Benningsen, who took Konigsberg by- 
assault. On the 28th of May, Dantzig capitulated to the 
French, and on the 14th of June they won the battle of 
Friedland ; ten days after, Napoleon and Alexander met 
on a raft moored in the middle of the Niemen, and con- 
cluded an armistice, which was a prelude to the treaty 
of Tilsit, concluded on the 27th July of the same 
year. Alexander by this act became the ally of France, 
which enabled the French to carry on their aggressive 
policy in Spain. But the injury inflicted on the Rus- 
sian commerce, by Napoleon's continental system against 
England, and his interference with Alexander's con- 
quests in Finland in 1809, roused that sovereign to a 
sense of his true interests. He broke with France, and 
the invasion of Russia by the French was the conse- 
quence. To prepare for and carry on his defense against 
this, the Emperor made peace with the Porte, and re- 
established his alliance with Great Britain. The oper- 
ations which took place during this memorable struggle 
are so well known, that they need only be briefly men- 
tioned here. 

On the 2 3d of June, 1812, the French crossed the 
Niemen and pushed on to Wilna, the Russians carefully 
retreating, and leaving Napoleon to pass that river on 
the 28th, and enter the town unopposed. Here the 
French Emperor remained eighteen days, and then after 
considerable manoeuvring, marched on Vitepsk, where he 
fully expected to bring the Russians, under Barclay de 
Tolly, to action. The Russian general, however, de- 
clined; and Napoleon, instead of following the advice 
of his marshals, and wintering on the Dwina, crossed 
the Dnieper and marched on Smolensk. On the 16th of 
August he was once more in front of the Russian grand 
army near that town; but the wary and intelligent De 
6 



78 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Tolly had occupied it, only to cover the flight of its in- 
habitants, and carry off or destroy its magazines; and 
on the following morning Napoleon, to his great mortifi- 
cation, learned that the enemy, in pursuance of his Fabian 
tactics, was again off. Smolensk was now taken by as- 
sault, the last inhabitants that remained having set fire 
to it before they left. Up to this time the Russian com- 
mander-in-chief had been able to adhere to his plan of 
drawing the French into the country without risking a 
general engagement until a favorable opportunity should 
occur — tactics which were not liked by his army; and 
Alexander, yielding to the clamor, appointed Kutusoff 
to the command. The battle of Borodino, sometimes 
called that of the Moskwa, fought on the 1st of Septem- 
ber, was the result of this change of leaders. The com- 
batants amounted on either side to about 120,000, and 
the killed and w^ouncled in both to about 80,000. On 
the 12th Bonaparte again moved forward, his troops by 
this time nearly famished, and heartily tired of the war, 
for the day of Borodino had given them a clear idea that 
the enemy would yield only after a desperate struggle. 
On Sunday the 13th, the Russian army marched out of 
the old capital, with silent drums and colors furled, by 
the Kolomna Gate, and left the city to its fate. In the 
afternoon of Monday the advance guard of the French 
army caught the first view of her golden minarets and 
starry domes, and the Kremlin burst upon their sight. 
<£ All this is yours," cried Napoleon, when he first gazed 
upon the goal of his ambition, and a shout of " Moscow ! 
Moscow ! " was taken up by the foremost ranks, and car- 
ried to the rear of his army. In Moscow. they bivouacked 
the same evening. Ere the night had closed in, their 
leader arrived at the Smolensko Gate, and then learned, to 
his astonishment, that 300,000 inhabitants had fied, and 



THE BURNING OF MOSCOW. 



79 



that the only Russians who remained in the city were 
the convicts who had been liberated from the jails, a 
few of the rabble, and those who were unable to leave 
it. On Tuesday, the 15th September, the mortified 
victor entered Moscow, and took up his residence in the 
Kremlin ; but here his stay was destined to be short in- 
deed, for on the morning of the 16th it was discovered 
that a fire, which had at first given but little cause for 
alarm, could not be restrained — fanned by the wind, it 
spread rapidly, and consumed the best portion of the 
city. " The churches," says Labaume, u though covered 
with iron and lead, were destroyed, and with them 
those graceful steeples which we had seen the night be- 
fore resplendent in the setting sun ; the hospitals, too, 
which contained more than 20,000 wounded, soon be- 
gan to burn — a harrowing and dreadful spectacle — and 
almost all these poor wretches perished ! " A few who 
still survived were seen crawling, half-burnt, among the 
smoking ruins, while others were groaning under heaps of 
dead bodies, endeavoring in vain to extricate themselves. 
The confusion and tumult which ensued when the work 
of pillage commenced cannot be conceived. Soldiers, 
sutlers, galley-slaves, and prostitutes, were seen running 
through the streets, penetrating into the deserted palaces, 
and carrying away everything that could gratify their 
avarice. Some clothed themselves in rich stuffs, silks, 
and costly furs; others dressed themselves in women's 
pelisses ; and even the galley-slaves concealed their rags 
under the most splendid court dresses; the rest crowded 
to the cellars, and, forcing open the doors, drank the 
wine and carried off an immense booty. This horrible 
pillage was not confined to the deserted houses alone, 
but extended to the few which were inhabited, and soon, 
the eagerness and wantonness of the plunderers caused 



80 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



devastations which almost equaled those occasioned 
by the conflagration. " Palaces and temples," writes 
Karamzin, " monuments of art and miracles of luxury, 
the remains of past ages and those which had been the 
creation of yesterday, the tombs of ancestors and the 
nursery cradles of the present generation, were indis- 
criminately destroyed ; nothing was left of Moscow save 
the remembrance of the city, and the deep resolution to 
avenge its fate." 

On the 20th Napoleon returned to the Kremlin from 
the Palace of Petrofski, to which he had retired, and 
soon tried to negotiate with Kutusoff, who replied that 
no treaty could be entered into so long as a foreigner 
remained within the frontier. The Emperor then request- 
ed that he would forward a letter to Alexander. " I will 
do that," said the Russian general, "provided the word 
peace is not in the letter." To a third proposition, Kut- 
usoff repdied that it was not the time to treat or enter 
into an armistice, as the Russians were just about to open 
the campaign. At length, on the 19th of October, after 
a stay of thirty-four days, Napoleon left Moscow with 
his army, consisting of 120,000 men and 550 pieces of 
cannon, a vast amount of plunder, and a countless host 
of camp followers. And now the picture of the advance 
was to be reversed. Murat was defeated at Malo-Yaro- 
slavets on the 24th, and an unsuccessful stand was made 
at Viasma on the 3d of November. On the 6th, a win- 
ter peculiarly early and severe, even for Russia, set in — 
the thermometer sank to— 18° Reaumur*— the wind blew 
furiously, and the soldiers, vainly struggling with the 
eddying snow, which drove against them with the vio- 
lence of a whirlwind, could no longer distinguish their 
road, and falling into the ditches by the roadside-, there 



* 9° below zero, Fahrenheit. 



THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 



81 



found a grave. Others crawled on, badly clothed, with 
nothing to eat or drink, frost-bitten, and groaning with 
pain. Discipline disappeared — the soldier no longer 
obeyed his officer ; disbanded, the troops spread them- 
selves right and left in search of food, and as the horses 
fell, fought for their mangled carcases, and devoured 
them raw ; many remained by the dying embers of the 
bivouac fires, and, as these expired, an insensibility crept 
over them which soon became the sleep of death. On 
the 9th of November, Napoleon reached Smolensk, and 
remained till the 15th, when he set out for Krasno& 
From this time to the 26th and 27th, when the French 
crossed the Beresina, all was utter and hopeless confu- 
sion ; and in the passage of that river the wretche J rem- 
nant of their once-powerful army was nearly annihilated 
— the exact extent of their loss was never known, but 
a Russian account states that 36,000 bodies were found 
in the river alone, and burned after the thaw. On the 
5th of December, Napoleon deserted the survivors. On 
the 10th he reached Warsaw, and on the night of the 
18th his capital and the Tuileries. The army that had 
so well and enthusiastically served him was disposed of 
as follows : 

Slain in fidit 125.000 

Died from fatigue, hunger, and the severity 

of the climate . . ... 132,000 

Prisoners 193,000 

450,000 

The remains of the grand army which escaped the 
general wreck (independently of the two auxiliary 
armies of Austria and Prussia, which knew little of the 
horrors of the retreat) was about 40,000 men, of whom 
it is said scarcely 10,000 were Frenchmen. Thus ended 



82 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



the greatest military catastrophe that ever befell an army 
in either ancient or modern times. To return to Napo- 
leon. Europe was now exasperated, and combined 
against him; and though in the following spring he 
gained the battles of Lutzen and Bautzen, and on the 
27th of August that of Dresden, fortune deserted him 
on the 18th of October of the same year on the field of 
Leipsic. On the Rhine the Allies offered him peace and 
the empire of France, which he refused, and on the 31st 
Of March, 1814, Alexander had the satisfaction of march- 
ing into Paris at the head of his troops. After the gen- 
eral peace, in 1815, the Czar devoted himself to the 
internal improvement of his country, making many judi- 
cious alterations in the government, in which he evinced 
much liberality of feeling. He had good abilities, but 
not brilliant talents, and his greatness of mind was not 
fully developed till the invasion of his country by the 
French ; this aroused all his energies, and exhibited hiai 
to the world as conducting himself with consummate dis- 
cretion, and unflinching steadiness of purpose, in that 
alarming crisis. His disposition was kind and generous, 
his manners mild and amiable, and his moderation pre- 
vented him from ever abusing his unlimited power. 
Under the influence of his mother and the empress, the 
levity and extravagance of the court were materially re- 
pressed. Unlike most of the sovereigns of Russia, Al- 
exander I. was eminently a religious man, during the last 
ten or eleven years of his life. He professed conversion 
from the time when Moscow was destroyed during Na- 
poleon's disastrous campaign already described; as he said 
to Bishop Eylart in 1818 : "The burning of Moscow at 
last illumined my soul ; and the judgments of God, mani- 
fested upon our snow-covered battle-fields, filled me with 
an ardent faith I had never known before. From that 




THE HOME OF A RUSSIAN NOBLEMAN. 



RELIGIOUS LIFE OF ALEXANDER. 



83 



moment I learned to know God as lie is revealed in the 
Holy Scriptures; from that moment I began to under- 
stand His will and His laws as I do now. The resolution 
to devote to God alone my glory, my person, and my 
reign, has since then matured and strengthened within 
me. From that time I became another man ; and to the 
deliverance of Europe from ruin do I owe my own 
safety and deliverance." So liberal was his faith that he 
prayed with equal fervor in Greek, Roman, or Protestant 
churches. In 1815, he said to a Reformed clergyman of 
Geneva, after showing him the draft of what has since 
been known as " the Holy Alliance : " " I am about to 
quit France ; and I wish before my departure to render 
a public act of thanksgiving to God the Father, Son and 
Holy Ghost, and to invite the people to act in obedience 
to the gospel. I wish the Emperor of Austria, and the 
King of Prussia, to join me in this act of adoration, that 
the people may see us acknowledging the superior au- 
thority of God the Saviour. Beseech God with me to 
dispose my allies to sign it." It was signed by the 
Allied Sovereigns. In this religious life, Madame Krud- 
ener, the celebrated Moravian Baroness, exerted a great 
and excellent influence over him, as did also the Czarina. 
Attended to the last by his wife, he died of erysipelas, 
December 1, 1825, in a small and humble dwelling near 
Taganrog, when on a tour of inspection through the 
southern provinces of his empire. When the news of 
his death spread over his vast dominions, he was univer- 
sally deplored, and the murmur of regret in other coun- 
tries responded to the grief of Russia. 

As soon as the death of Alexander I. was known aft 
St. Petersburg, the Grand Duke Nicholas, the second of 
Alexander's three brothers, at once ordered a priest to 
place the gospels and the cross before the Empress' mother, 



84 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



and took the oath of allegiance to Constantine, his elder 
brother, who was that very day proclaimed Emperor. 
Constantine, like his father, was possessed of an ungov- 
ernable temper and an eccentric and wayward disposition ; 
and the Emperor Alexander I. had been very anxious in 
regard to his coming to the throne. In 1S20 he had married 
(after procuring a divorce from his first wife) a young 
Polish countess, and his attachment for her was so strong, 
that he offered to give up the succession to his younger 
brother Nicholas, if the Czar Alexander would confirm 
his marriage. Alexander consented, and his formal resig- 
nation was drawn up, and was known jonly to the Czar, 
the Empress' mother, and the Grand Duke Nicholas 
When, therefore, Nicholas early in December, 1825, took 
the oath of allegiance to him and proclaimed him Em- 
peror, the act though chivalric and well-intended, proved 
the beginning of a great disaster. Constantine was 
Viceroy of Poland, and was at Warsaw, but immediately 
sent thence an answer, confirming his resignation in the 
most emphatic and solemn manner, and offering loyal 
allegiance to his brother. Upon this Nicholas no longer 
hesitated, but was immediately proclaimed Czar. Con* 
stantine was the favorite of the army, and they pro- 
claimed him, prompted to the act by the revolutionists 
who desired a constitutional form of government, and 
raised the war cry of Constitutsia, the ignorant soldiers 
supposing that they were fighting for Constantine's wife. 
The insurrection was suppressed with great vigor, and 
perhaps unnecessary cruelty, by Nicholas, who led his 
troops in person; great numbers were executed, and 
many thousands were banished to Siberia and the steppes 
of the Caucasus. This outbreak made a deep impression 
on the mind of the Emperor, and had great influence on 
the system of government, by which his reign is best 



THE CZAR A^D THE STILT ATT AS ALLIES. 



85 



known. Nicholas declared war against Persia, which 
terminated in 1828, by the payment of a large indemnity 
on the part of the Shah. A war with Turkey followed, 
and was closed by the Treaty of Adrianople, IS 29, by 
which Russia acquired a considerable augmentation of 
territory on the coast of the Black Sea and other advan- 
tages, in addition to a certain amount of influence in the 
Danubian principalities. An insurrection broke out in 
Poland in 1830, and was suppressed, after a hard strug- 
gle, and with terrible cruelty, in 1831. The territory" 
ceded by the Treaty of Adrianople, having included the 
Caucasus, the Emperor Nicholas had recourse to arms in 
order to bring the independent races of that mountainous 
region to submission. By a treaty signed at Constanti- 
nople on the 8th July, 1833, between Russia and Tur- 
key, the Porte engaged, in return for the military aid of 
Russia against the Pasha of Egypt, to close the Darda- 
nelles against all foreign vessels of war. The j)eace be- 
tween the Sultan and the Pasha having a^ain been dis- 
turbed in 1839, the Ottoman empire was placed, on the. 
27th July, 1839, under the common safeguard of the five 
great European Powers, instead of exclusively under the 
protection of Russia. This was followed by a conven- 
tion, signed at London on the 15th July, 1810, "for 
maintaining the integrity and independence of the Otto- 
man empire, as a security for the peace of Europe." In 
1841 the Emperor Nicholas visited England. In 1849 
Russia assisted Austria in repressing the Hungarian in- 
surrection. A dispute between the Greek and Latin 
Churches relative to the guardianship of the Holy Places, 
produced demands on the part of Russia, which the Porte 
refused to admit. Thereupon the Russian troops, amount- 
ing to 80,000, entered the Moldo-Wallachian provinces 
in July, 1853. The combined fleets of England and 



80 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



France entered the Dardanelles on the 14th October, at 
the request of the Sultan, and on the "1st November 
Russia declared war against Turkey. The Turks then 
crossed the Danube, and conducted a campaign against 
the Eussians with much bravery and success. On the 
30th November the Turkish fleet was destroyed while at 
anchor in the harbor of Sinope, notwithstanding the 
declaration on the part of Russia that she intended only 
to act on the defensive, and to repel the advance of the 
Turks into the Principalities. The combined fleet was 
immediately ordered into the Black Sea, and hopes of a 
peaceful termination of the difficulty were abandoned. 
The Russian ambassador quitted London on the 4th 
February, 1854. France and England declared war 
against Russia, respectively, on the 27th and 28th of 
March. Odessa was bombarded on the 2 2d April, 
after an English flag of truce had been fired upon. The 
K Ti^er " steam-frigate stranded near Odessa, and was 
captured after an attack by the artillery on land ; the 
flao; of one of her boats fell into the possession of the 
Russians. The allied squadron anchored off Eupatoria 
on the 13th September, and next day landed their troops 
at about twelve miles below that town. The battle of 
the Alma was fought on the 20th September. 

The following account of the battle of the Alma is 
condensed from Lieutenant-Colonel Hamley's " Story of 
the Campaign of Sevastopol " : 

" The allied army, having landed on the 14th September, at a 
place about twelve miles below the town of Eupatoria, com- 
menced its march on the 19th at seven in the morning. In all, 
the British mustered 26,000 men and 54 guns ; the French, 24,000 
men and about TO guns; and the Turks, 4,500 men, with neither 
cavalry nor guns. At night the Allies bivouacked on the Bul- 
ganak. The next morning, between nine and ten o'clock, the 



THE BATTLE OP THE ALMA. 



87 



army marched onward for about two hours under a bright sun. 
The front of the Allies was oblique, the Turks on the right being 
about two miles in advance of the British left. Surmounting the 
grassy ridges which formed their horizon, the scene of the coming 
struggle disclosed itself to them. The plain, level for about a 
mile, sloped gently down to a village, beyond which was a valley 
sprinkled with trees, and watered by the river Alma. On the 
opposite side of the stream the bank rises abruptly into steep 
knolls, terminating in plateaux, behind which rises another and 
higher range of heights. Both these ranges were occupied by 
masses of Russian troops, numbering altogether, according to 
General Todleben, 33,600 men of all arms and 96 guns. Such 
was the position in front of the British. In front of the French, 
who formed the center of the line, the first range of knolls grew 
more and more abrupt. These were defended by infantry, and 
field-artillery were posted, with more infantry, on the plains 
at the top of the heights. 

" The French advanced steadily and incessantly, and attacked a 
small telegraph station on the plain at the top of the heights, and 
succeeded in planting their flag upon it. During the attack on 
it, the right of the British had gradually come under the fire of 
the heavy artillery on the knolls. Pennefather's brigade of the 
2d division, advancing in line along the slope of the plain, lay 
down near the walls of the village for shelter from the destruc- 
tive fire of the enemy, and then moved onward to the river; 
while the light division, passing into the valley, on the left of the 
second, pressed on until they passed the river, nearly up to their 
necks, and then began to ascend the slopes beyond, which were 
held by the Russian battalions. 

" The battery now in front of them, covered with a thick low 
bank of earth, swept the whole front of the British, and its fire 
was crossed by that of the guns from the knolls, which searched 
the village and plowed up the plain beyond it. A wide road, 
bounded by low stone walls, leading to a bridge and a ford, inter- 
vened between the 1st and 2d divisions ; and the latter point, 
being nearly intermediate between the principal lines of fire, was 
probably the hottest of the cannonade. Many of the 55th fell 
there, before advancing into the villages. To oppose the Russian 
fire, some guns were at last brought into action on the opposite 



88 



THE COXQUEST OF TURKEY. 



bank, and their fire took the Russian center and guns in reverse, 
while the French, pressing up the heights, had driven back the 
left. The Russian artillery now began to retire, soon after fol- 
lowed by covering masses of infantry. It was at this moment 
that a brigade of the light division, consisting of the 7th, 23d, 
and 33d regiments, very gallantly led by General Codrington, 
advancing up the slope, under a terrible fire of musketry, took a 
gun from the epaulement or low wall of earth already mentioned ; 
but, with a loss of six hundred killed and wounded, the brigade 
was forced to retire down the slope and re-form under cover of 
the attack of the first division, which had been led across the 
river by the Duke of Cambridge to support them. The 7th 
Fusileers, going up to the breast-work with a cheer, retook and 
kept possession of the Russian gun ; the 33d and 95th came to the 
support of the 7th ; the 19th and 47th also advanced ; and after 
a terrible slaughter the Russians were driven back. Sir George 
Brown rode gallantly in front of his light division and fell in 
front of the battery. The 55th and 30th regiments, coming up 
on the right of the 95th, drove back the enemy on their own 
front, and the three British brigades formed line on the ground 
they had won. 

" The battle had thus rolled back to the right rear of the Rus- 
sians. On the extreme right of their original position, at the top 
of the heights, was a battery behind an epaulement, with a fiank 
for seven guns, thrown back to prevent the right being turned. 
The brigade of Highlanders, under Sir Colin Campbell, being 
on the left of the British line, formed themselves, when the first 
division crossed the river, directly in front of this battery, which, 
before it followed the other guns in their retreat, poured upon 
them during their gallant advance a heavy but ill-directed fire, 
doing them but little damage. At the top of the hill they met 
some battalions of the enemy still showing a front, and compelled 
them to retreat with the loss of a good many men ; and two 
troops of horse-artillery which had crossed the river higher up, 
coming into action, played upon the retreating masses with great 
effect. Thus ended, after a contest of three hours, the battle of 
the Alma. 

" The retreat was effected in good order, with the loss of two 
guns, and Prince MenschikofFs carriage with his papers. The 



TUB PURSUIT TO SEVASTOPOL. 



89 



loss of the Allies was about 3,000 in killed and wounded. General 
Todleben attributes the loss of the battle mainly to the superior 
discipline and arms of the Allies. 

" Prince Menschikoff, having made good his retreat to Sevasto- 
pol, caused its fortifications to be strengthened by Todleben, and 
ordered Admiral Korniloff to sink his squadron in the roadstead. 
On the 23d, the Allies reached the Katcha and encamped there, 
without finding the enemy as they had expected. On the 24th 
they bivouacked near Belbek. Meanwhile Prince Menschikoff 
had quitted Sevastopol in the night, to proceed with his army to 
Bakhchisarai by the Mackenzie road, leaving only 16,569 fight- 
ing men in garrison, and losing some carriages with baggage and 
ammunition on the plain. General Todleben is of opinion that 
neither the exaltation of the Russian troops, nor their resolution 
to fight to the last, would have been able to save Sevastopol if 
the Allies had attacked it immediately after the passage of the 
Tchernaya. 'However that may be, the Allies moved on the 26th 
September toward the east, in the direction of Mackenzie's farm, 
and successfully accomplished the maneuver of transferring the 
army from the north to the south side of Sevastopol 

On the 26th Balaclava harbor was occupied. Sevas- 
topol was attacked by sea and by land on the 17 th Oc- 
tober. The Light Cavalry charge at Balaclava was made 
on the 25th October; out of 607 men only 198 returned. 
While the siege was progressing large reinforcements 
were pouring into the Eussian camp. The Russians at- 
tacked the English positions in front of Iukermann on 
the 5th November, but were compelled to retreat. 

The following account of the battle of Inkermann is 
likewise condensed from Lieutenant-Colonel Hamley's 
" Story of the Campaign of Sevastopol" : 

" During the night of the 4-5th of November the Russians 
had assembled in force in the valley of the Tchernaya between 
Inkermann and the harbor. The object of their enterprise, ac- 
cording to General Todleben, was to drive back the right wing 
of the besiegers, and take firm possession of the ground occupied 



90 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



by them between the town and the shore. A force of 18,929 
men and 38 guns was to start at six in the morning for ' Careen- 
ing Bay,' and to be joined by another body of 15,806 men and 
96 guns passing over the bridge of Inkermann. On their junc- 
tion they were to be under the command of General Dannenberg; 
while Prince Gortschakoff, with 22,444 men and 88 guns, was to 
support the attack and endeavor to effect a diversion. This plan 
was not entirely carried out, for the body of 18,929 men proceeded 
to a different side of the ravine from that originally contem- 
plated, and thus prevented the meditated junction. 

" At dawn they made their rush upon the advanced posts of 
the second division posted on the crest looking down into the 
valley, and which fell back fighting upon the camp behind the 
crest, 1200 yards in rear. The outposts being driven in, the hill 
was occupied by the enemy's artillery and guns of position, which 
commenced a heavy fire down the face of the gentle declivity, 
crashing through the tents left standing below. Captain Allix, 
of General Evans's staff, was dashed from his saddle, not far 
from his own tent, by a round shot, and fell dead. The plan of 
the Russians was, after sweeping the ridge clear by their heavy 
concentrated fire, to launch some of their columns over it, Avhile 
others, diverging to their left after crossing the marsh, were to 
have passed round the edge of the cliffs opposite Inkermann, and 
turned the British right. The artillery fire had not continued 
long before the rush of infantry was made. Crow T ds of skirmish- 
ers advancing through the coppice came on in spite of the case- 
shot, and passed within the British lines, forcing the artillery to 
limber up and retire down the slope. Two companies of the 
55th, lying down behind a small bank of earth, retreated as the 
Russians leapt over it, firing as they went back, and halted on a 
French regiment that was marching up the hill. The Russians 
retreated in their turn, and the French, with General Pennefather 
riding in front, went gallantly down the slope under the tremen- 
dous fire, driving the enemy before them. Almost simultaneously 
with this attack on the center, a body of Russians had passed 
round the edge of the cliff, and met the Guards there, who had 
thrown themselves into a two-gun battery on the edge of the slope 
opposite the ruins of the old castle, with the Grenadiers extend- 
ing to the right, the Fusileers to the left, of the battery, and the 



THE BATTLE OF INKERMANISr. 



91 



Coldstream s across the slope toward the British center. The 
Russians came on in great numbers with extraordinary determin- 
ation. The Guards, having exhausted their ammunition, attacked 
the Russians with the bayonet, and, after losing nearly half their 
number were compelled to retire, but, being reinforced, returned 
and drove the enemy out of the battery. 

" Four of the guns of Townsend's battery of the fourth division, 
which came up at the left of the position, were taken by the 
Russians almost as soon as unlimbered, but some of the 88th and 
49th retook them before they had been many seconds in the 
enemy's hands. In all these attacks on the British right, the 
Russians were prevented from turning that flank by Cod ring- 
ton's brigade of the light division posted on the further bank of 
the ravine. When the Russian infantry was driven back, a can- 
nonade recommenced along their whole line, to which the British 
guns replied warmly, though overmatched in metal and numbers. 
The ships in the harbor, and the battery at the Round Tower, 
also threw shot and shell on the slope. 

"This cannonade was the preface to another infantry attack, 
which now again threatened the British right, at that moment 
absolutely without defense. By advancing resolutely, the enemy 
would have turned it, but the men who had retreated from the 
low intrenchment already spoken of, rallied and lay down under 
it. Then reinforcements arrived for the support of the remnant 
of the defenders of the 2-gun battery. These fresh troops at once 
charged the enemy, routed them, and pursued them to the very 
verge of the heights, when, returning victorious, they found the 
battery, as they repassed it, again occupied by Russians, a fresh 
force of whom had mounted the cliff from the valley. It was 
while collecting his men to meet this new and unexpected foe, 
that Sir George Cathcart was shot dead. 

"At this juncture the remainder of Bosquet's division came 
up on the right, and, passing at once over the crest, threw them- 
selves into the combat, and, fighting side by side with the British 
troops, pressjed the Russians back. A tremendous cannonade 
was now again opened by the Russians, and replied to by English 
and French batteries of artillery and two 18-pounders ordered up 
by Lord Raglan. Between these two opposing fires of artillery, 
a fierce desultory combat of skirmishers went on in the coppices 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Regiments and divisions, French and English, were here mixed, 
and fought hand to hand with the common enemy. About noon 
the fire of the Russians slackened, and further French reinforce- 
ments took up a position on the hill. The battle was now pro- 
longed only by the efforts of the Russian artillery to cover the 
retreat of their foiled and broken battalions. At three o'clock 
the French and English generals, with their staffs, passed along 
the crest of the disputed hill, and half an hour after the whole 
force of the enemy retired across the Tchernaya. 

" Until the arrival of the fourth division and the French, the 
ground was held by about 5,000 British troops, presenting a thin 
and scattered line, while the body of Russians immediately op- 
posed to them was, according to General Todleben, 15,000 strong. 
In all, 8,000 English and 6,000 French were engaged. The total 
Russian force, estimated by Lord Raglan at 60,000, is put down 
by General Todleben at 34,835, of whom 6 generals, 256 officers, 
and 10,467 rank and file were put hors de comhat — more than 
double the loss of the Allies. The loss of the battle is attributed 
by General Todleben to the want of simultaneity in the advance 
of the Russians (owing to conflicting arrangements in starting 
from Sevastopol), the superiority of the French and English 
small-arms, and the omission of the Russian artillery to follow 
and support their infantry. 

" Large trenches were dug on the ground for the dead; the 
Russians lay apart, the French and English were ranged side by 
side." 

A hurricane destroyed a great amount of shipping in 
the Black Sea on the 14th November, causing the Allies 
to suffer considerably from the want of supplies. Gen- 
eral Todleben now assumed with much success the di- 
rection of the defenses of Sevastopol, and soon gained 
great renown ; the Allies in the meanwhile were re- 
pulsed in a naval attack on Petropaulovski, in the 
Pacific. In 1855 Sardinia joined the Allies with a con- 
tingent of 15,000 men. On the 17th February the Rus- 
sians made a formidable attack on Eupatoria, defended 
by the Turks under Omer Pasha and by a French detach- 



BOMBARDMENT OF SEVASTOPOL. 



93 



merit, but were obliged to retire with great loss ; the 
intelligence of the repulse reached the Emperor Nicholas 
but a few days before his death, which took place very 
unexpectedly on the 2d March. A conference was soon 
after opened at Vienna with the object of concluding 
peace, but, after sitting six weeks, it was dissolved with- 
out any satisfactory result. The war, however, was 
still actively prosecuted. The second bombardment of 
Sevastopol was opened at daybreak of the 9th April, 
1855, and produced no decisive result. The third bom- 
bardment commenced on the Gth June, and was followed 
next day by successful attacks on the Mamelon and 
Quarries. General Liprandi having attempted to raise 
the siege, the battle of the Tchernaya was fought on the 
16th August, and resulted in the complete success of the 
French and Sardinian troops engaged in it. On the 5th 
September an " infernal nre " was opened by the Allies 
and kept up until the 8th, when the French stormed the 
Malakoff and the English the Redan, which was, how- 
ever, abandoned after an unequal contest of nearly two 
hours. The French loss on that day amounted to 1,489 
killed, 4,259 wounded, and 1,400 missing ; and the Eng- 
lish to 385 killed, 1,886 wounded, and 176 missing; the 
Russians, according to their own account, losing 2,684 
killed, 7,243 wounded, and 1,763 missing. The south 
side of Sevastopol being no longer tenable, the town was 
evacuated during the night ; the magazines were ex- 
ploded, the fortifications blown up, and the ships in the 
harbor sunk. The Allies took possession of the ruins 
next day. The operations of the Anglo-French squadron 
in the Baltic consisted, in 1854, of a reconnoissance off 
Cronstadt by Sir Charles Napier, and a boat action at 
Gamle Karbely, in the Gulf of Finland, when the pad- 
dlebox-boat of the " Vulture v drifted on shore and be- 



94 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



came a prize. The flag of this boat is shown at St. 
Petersburg, being, together with that of the " Tiger's " 
boat, the only English colors preserved in Russia as mil- 
itary trophies. The forts of Bomarsund, on the Aland 
Islands, were captured on the 15th July, 1854, by a 
French force of 10,000 men and a small contingent of 
English marines and seamen. In 1855 the Baltic fleet 
bombarded Sveaborg and cruised off Cronstadt, under 
the command of Admiral Dundas and Admiral Penaud. 
The war in Asia terminated with the surrender of Ears 
to General Mouravieff. By the intervention of Austria, 
preliminaries of peace were agreed upon at a meeting of 
plenipotentiaries at Paris on the 26th February, 1856, 
and peace was signed on the 30th March and ratified on 
the 27th April following. By that treaty the territorial 
integrity and the independence of the Ottoman empire 
were recognized and guaranteed. Russia and Turkey 
mutually agreed not to keep in the Black Sea more than 
six steam- vessels, of 800 tons at the maximum, and four 
light steam or sailing vessels, not exceeding 200 tons. 
The navigation of the Danube was opened to the vessels 
of all nations, and the Russian frontier in Bessarabia 
was rectified. No exclusive protection over the princi- 
palities of Moldavia and Wallachia was in future to be 
admitted ; and in case of the internal tranquility of the 
principalities being menaced, no armed intervention 
could take place without the general sanction of the 
contracting powers. 

The Emperor Alexander II. was crowned at Moscow 
on the 7th September, 1856. His accession was marked 
by the introduction of vast reforms in the administra- 
tion. Corruption was prosecuted and punished. The 
army was reduced to the lowest limits compatible with 
the dignity and safety of the country, and the term of 



THE EMANCIPATION OF THE SEUFS. 



95 



military service was shortened. Railways were projected 
and commenced, and commercial and industrial enter- 
prise of every kind was liberally promoted in view of 
restoring the prosperity of the empire, much impaired 
by the war. Overtrading, however, induced by an arti- 
ficial encouragement, added its disastrous effects to finan- 
cial embarrassment, and assisted in depreciating the 
currency of the country, no longer metallic. New loans 
were made, and a system of financial publicity was 
adopted. But the most glorious monument of the reign 
of the Emperor Alexander II. will ever be the emanci- 
pation of the serfs. Their manumission had been fre- 
quently contemplated. The delegates in Catherine II. 's 
parliament had suggested it ; Alexander I. had counsel- 
ors who ardently desired to see its abolition, and even 
the Emperor Nicholas had contemplated a more mitigated 
form of personal bondage. In 1838 a section of the 
nobility petitioned for its entire abolition. In 1852 the 
Minister of the Interior actually drew up a plan of 
gradual emancipation, which was to have been carried 
into execution in the spring of 1854. In 1855, the no- 
bility of the province of Lithuania having offered to 
free their serfs, the Emperor Alexander II. convoked a 
commission at St. Petersburg, which was charged with 
the preparation of an act of general emancipation. 
This was proclaimed on the 3d March, 1861, when all 
the serfs (about 45 millions, including those belonging to 
the Crown and those in Poland) acquired personal liber- 
ty and civil rights. A period of two years was allowed 
for the appropriation of land to the peasants, who have 
acquired the "perpetual usufruct" of the houses and 
plots of ground which they occupied at the time of 
emancipation; the allotments of land being, however, 
circumscribed by a scale which varied according to the 



96 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



locality and quality of the soil. The compulsory appro- 
priation to each peasant varied from a minimum of 1 des- 
siatina (2 1-2 acres) to a maximum of 12 dessiatinas in the 
steppe districts. In the central parts of Russia the extent 
of the allotments was, on an average, about 4 dessiatinas 
(10 acres) to each peasant. Beyond this, the enfranchised 
serf is permitted to acquire additional lands on terms 
of mutual agreement with the landed proprietors. Those 
terms were regulated by a body of officials, called " Ar- 
bitrators of the Peace," who drew up and registered the 
deeds of sale or lease. The government in such cases 
advanced the purchase-money to the peasant by the 
issue of redemption-bonds, bearing six per cent, interest, 
and is refunded by a series of payments extending over 
a certain number of years. The communes being respon- 
sible, as corporations, to the State for such re-payments, 
their members are circumscribed in their liberty of loco- 
motion, until they have paid their share of the heavy 
liability incurred. It is calculated that the government 
have advanced 300 millions of rubles in these trans- 
actions, by which each peasant is enabled to become an 
independent and considerable landed proprietor. The 
larger estates of the nobles are in the meanwhile to a great 
extent deprived of agricultural labor, and are being very 
generally thrown out of cultivation or partially farmed 
out to the peasantry. In the ancient provinces of 
Poland, since the insurrection which broke out in 
Poland and Lithuania in 1863, the proprietors are forced 
by ukase to cede such portions of additional lands as 
the peasants may desire to purchase ; but the measure 
has not been applied to Russia Proper. The emancipa- 
tion was carried out peaceably, with only a few partial 
agrarian outbreaks, produced chiefly by erroneous inter- 
pretations of the law, though not without some bitter- 



OTHER REFORMS. 



99 



ness between the nobles and the peasants, which has 
now, however, mostly disappeared. 

Among the many other important reforms which fol- 
lowed the Act of Emancipation we may signalize the 
introduction of new courts of law on the basis of open 
trial by jury, which came into operation at Moscow and 
St. Petersburg during the course of 1865, and in other 
parts of the empire later. Corporal punishment was 
abolished in 1863, and the penalty of death is now only 
inflicted on the sentences of courts-martial in cases of 
incendiarism and other crimes requiring special measures 
of repression. The knout has entirely disappeared as an 
instrument of punishment. The disabilities of the Jews 
have been removed ; the commerce of the country, al- 
though still retarded in its development by one of the 
worst customs tariffs in Europe, has been relieved of 
many oppressive regulations, and thrown open to natives 
and foreigners alike ; municipal charters have been con- 
ferred on St. Petersburg and Moscow; the liberty of 
speech and thought denied under the previous reign 
may now be fully exercised, except in the form of pub- 
lic meetings for political purposes; and the censorship 
of the press has been reduced to a mitigated form. 
Public instruction is being vigorously pursued, and 
education brought within the reach of the humblest. 
The universities and superior schools have been re- 
modeled and deprived of their once semi-military 
character. A classical system of education has been 
promoted, and the clergy have been raised socially and 
intellectually, especially through the action of the Em- 
peror in throwing open to the white or married clergy 
all those preferments and opportunities for becoming 
teachers, professors, or rectors of the colleges and uni- 
versities which before 1869 were the exclusive per- 



100 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



quisites of tlie black or celibate clergy, and the genera] 
distribution of the Scriptures which his uncle Alexander 
had encouraged, but which his father had repressed. The 
empire during the reign of Alexander II. has been con- 
ducted in the interests of peace, national prosperity, and 
good government, and it has recovered from the disas- 
ters of the Crimean war and the first reaction after eman- 
' cipation. The insurrection in Poland and Lithuania in 
1862-3 was put down with considerable severity; but 
that was inevitable under the circumstances ; and 
though in the reign of Nicholas I. the Poles had really 
just cause of complaint and protest, they have only 
themselves to thank for what they have suffered under 
Alexander, for they spurned the hand that was held out 
to them in kindness and cordiality, and used his forbear- 
ance to carry out the most cruel and murderous con- 
spiracies against his person, his throne, and his govern- 
ment. For a thousand years the Poles have been the 
bitter enemies of the Russians, and both nations have 
been alike unscrupulous ; and though it is hard to say 
it, of a nation so gallant and brave as the Polish nation 
has at times shown itself, there was no alternative for it 
except humble submission, or utter extermination. The 
war which Russia has conducted for several years past 
in Central Asia has not been intentionally a war of 
conquest or for the extension of her territory, already 
too large to be well governed, but was necessary for 
the protection of its own people, harried by those Tur- 
komans and Tartars, more savage but less cruel than 
their cousins, the Osmanlis of Turkey. The annexation 
of these chieftaincies and khanates has followed as a 
result, and a not altogether agreeable one, of the policy 
of repelling their raids and aggressions ; but it has had 
at least one good effect, that of so far controlling them 



RUSSIA AND GREAT BRITAIN IN THE EAST. 103 

by fear (the only motive to which they seem to be 
amenable) as to make them more careful how they 
molest the subjects of Russia. The apprehension which 
has so thoroughly taken possession of the minds of the 
conservative party in Great Britain that Russia is intend- 
ing to absorb in her vast empire all Southern Asia, and , 
plant her double-headed eagles on Point de Galle or the 
shores of the Bay of Bengal, seems too absurd to be 
entertained for a moment by reasonable men. Russia has 
already more territory than she can profitably govern, - 
and to draw to her standard the two hundred millions 
of India and Farther India, would be so gross a blunder, 
that no Russian statesman of ordinary astuteness is 
likely to make it. It is for her interest that the Asiatic 
continent should be divided nearly equally, so far as 
territory is concerned, between her and her insular 
neighbor, and it is too vast a heritage for either nation 
to quarrel with the other over. They can be, and in 
the natural order of things will be, mutual helpers of 
each other, especially in their course in regard to the 
great empire of China; but they have no more occasion 
to quarrel over their Asiatic possessions, than the twin 
stars or suns in the constellation of Orion have, over 
their paths in the heavens. 



CHAPTER III 



RUSSIA ITS GEOGRAPHY, EXISTING RACES, RELIGION, Am) 

SOCIAL LIFE. 

Every thing in Russia is on so vast a scale that we 
stand appalled at the very beginning of our review of it 
by the immensity which threatens to enshroud us. 

Its area, (8,444,766 scjuare miles) is almost two and a 
half times that of our own country, and is reckoned to 
be one seventh of the entire land upon the globe and 
about one twenty-sixth of its entire surface. It extends 
in Europe, from the Arctic Ocean and the Frozen Sea to 
the Black Sea, the ancient Euxine, and from the Baltic 
and the eastern boundaries of Germany and Austria to 
the Ural Mountains and river, and the shores of the 
Caspian Sea ; while its Asiatic domain stretches from the 
Ural to the Behring Sea and from the Frozen Ocean to 
the Hindoo Koosh, the Thian Shan and the Altai ranges 
of mountains, and the Amoor River. Its population, 
almost 86 millions, averages about 10 persons to the 
square mile, while European Russia, which more imme- 
diately concerns us, has a population of 34 persons to the 
mile. 

Yet European Russia, stretching northward to about 
the 72d degree of north latitude, has its vast plains and 
broken lands of snow and ice, where only the dwarf 
birch and the reindeer moss grows, and where the sun 
does not descend below the horizon in summer for weeks, 
nor rise above it in mid- winter for as long a time — fear- 
ful lands of ice and sleet, and fog, where all nature 
104 ; 



THE FINNS AND LAPPS. 



105 



seems out of course, and where Samoyede and Lapp and 
Finn, with their closely packed huts of snow, ice, or logs 
in winter, and their tents of reindeer skin in summer, 
make their homes, now on the plains or mountains, and 
now by the fiords or estuaries of the streams, from which 
they procure seals, walrus, and fish in summer, while 
their winter diet is of the flesh of the seal and reindeer, 
and the milk of the latter, with the reindeer moss and 
the birch bark, and some black bread, which they obtain 
from provinces farther south. 

The Finns and Lapps are kindred races, short, stout, and 
hard}^, and possibly allied to our Esquimaux or Innuits, 
whom they somewhat resemble, though many of them 
are educated and intelligent. The Samoyede is lower 
in the scale, nearer to our tribes of Indians in the ex- 
treme north, of uncleanly habits, accustomed to eat his 
flesh raw — and of but scanty intelligence. He is the 
slave or drudge of the Finns, whom he serves with fidel- 
ity, if not with willingness. All these races are exceed- 
ingly superstitious, and their religion is mingled with so 
much of the old northern mythologies, that it is difficult 
to recognize in it, at times, much of the religion of the 
Bible. Their language and their theology are not Rus- 
sian, but they have mingled their superstitious fear of 
witches and goblins with some of the dogmas and wor- 
ship of the Greek Church, and call themselves orthodox. 
It is doubtful if the Finn is very nearly related to tha 
Sclavonic races. He certainly bears but a remote resem- 
blance to them. 

Passing south from this region of the wintry deserts, 
where no tree can grow, and only shadows are afforded 
by the huge rocks, ice-covered in winter, we cross the 
Arctic circle and come into the region of lakes, gulfs, and 
ice-bound rivers, the country of the White or Frozen Sea, 



106 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



of the broad gulfs, bays, lakes with their numerous islets, 
and of the rivers which flow northward; a region gloomy 
and partially covered with vast forests, but having its 
towns and villages, its commerce and its fields of rye, 
oats, and barley. 

From Onega at the southern termination of the gulf of 
the same name, one of the arms of the White Sea, to 
Perm, far eastward, almost at the foot-hills of the Ural 
Mountains, in latitude 58 N., and thence westward to 
Yaroslav, a region as large as the United States east of 
the Rocky Mountains, is a country inhabited by an un- 
doubted Sclavonic race ; a country colonized from Nov- 
gorod the Great, a free city and a free republic through 
the earlier centuries of our era, where nobility and serf- 
dom were alike unknown. To this race belonged the 
pilots of the White Sea ; the farmers who brought their 
rye for black bread down the Dwina to the ports of the 
Frozen Sea, and their oats and flax ; the herdsmen, who 
found, in the same quarter, a market for their tallow and 
hides, and the lumbermen who brought thither their tall 
masts of giant pine, their oaken planks, their tar, and 
mats, their deals and logs for building dwellings and 
forts, huts and chapels, in that treeless land. Arch- 
angel, the port most frequented on this White Sea, is 
at the mouth of the Dwina, whose channel, silted up 
by the violent storms of the winter, changes so often, that 
all vessels trading thither are compelled to take a pilot. 
It is a strange town, remarkable for many things, but 
most of all, for its strange vicissitudes, and its intensely 
religious character. It dates from the sixteenth century, 
and owes its origin to the enterprise of English seamen 
and adventurers. It was first built as a fort and town 
by Ivan the Fourth, better known as Ivan the Terrible, 
and by him named the New Castle of St. Michael the 




RUSSIAN NORTH SEA PILOT. 



RUSSIAN PILGRIMS AjSTD DEVOTEES. 



109 



Archangel, a name shortened by the Russians, partly 
from reverence and partly from aversion to its length, to 
Archangel. Ivan built it of wood, of logs*} which decayed 
after the lapse of a hundred years ; but Peter the Great 
rebuilt it of brick, and employed masons brought from 
Holland. In later days it has been again rebuilt, and in 
its double character, of the only truly Russian port, and 
of the city which is the special favorite of the Archangel, 
whom all devout Russians adore as next to the Almighty, 
it is one of the most notable places in Russia. Hither 
come, on their way to Solovetsk, an island of the White 
Sea, where are the holy tombs, pilgrims from all portions 
of Russia, men and women, whose feet have pressed the 
holy places of Bethlehem and Calvary, of Nazareth, and 
also of Kief, of Moscow and the shrines, which to the 
Russians are scarcely less sacred than those of Palestine ; 
and mingling with them are Scandinavian, English, Scot- 
tish and American sailors and traders, and Germans, 
Austrians, Hollanders, each, intent on his own business, 
yet wondering at the grotesqueness of the costumes, and 
the strangeness of the manners and customs, which meet 
him at every turn. 

At this point, perhaps as well as at any other, we may 
learn something of the religious character of the Russian. 
Erroneous as in our view may be some of the doctrines 
and practices of the Muscovite, we cannot fail to see that 
to him, his religion is the great business of his life. His 
devotion is of the Oriental type, earnest, fanatical even, and 
unreasoning ; but with all its intensity, it is very often 
entirely divorced from morality. A devout Russian of the 
peasant class sees nothing wrong in the commission of 
even great crimes; but if he has failed in one jot or 
tittle of the ceremonials due to the worship of a saint or 
the observance of what he regards as the essentials of 



110 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



his ritual, he regards himself as having committed a 
mortal sin. W. Hep worth Dixon, a distinguished Eng- 
lish writer, has given a most interesting description of the 
religious life of a Russian peasant, a part of which we 
know will delight our readers : 

" The first impulse in a Russian heart is duty to God. 
It is an impulse of observance and respect ; at once 
moral and ceremonial ; an impulse with an inner force 
and an outer form ; present in all ranks of society, and 
in all situations of life ; in an army on the march, in a 
crowd at a country fair, in a lecture-room full of students ; 
showing itself in a princess dancing at a ball, in a huck- 
ster writing at his desk, in a peasant tugging at his cart, 
in a burglar rioting on his spoil. 

" This duty adorns the land with fane and altar, even 
as it touches the individual man with penitential grace. 
Every village must have its shrine, as every child must 
have his guardian angel and baptismal cross. The towns 
are rich in churches and convents, just as the citizens 
are rich in spiritual gifts. I counted twenty spires in 
Kargopol, a city of two thousand souls. Moscow is 
said to have four hundred and thirty churches and 
chapels ; Kief, in proportion to her people, is no less rich. 
All public events are celebrated by the building of a 
church. In Kief, St. Andrew's Church commemorates 
the visit of an apostle; St. Mary's, the introduction of 
Christianity. In Moscow, St. Vassili's commemorates 
the conquest of Kazan ; the Donskoi Convent, Theo- 
dore's victory over the Crini Tartars; St. Saviour's, the 
expulsion of Napoleon. In Petersburg, St. Alexander's 
commemorates the first victory won by Russians over 
Swedes ; St. Isaac's, the birth of Peter the Great ; Our 
Lady of Kazan's, triumphs of Russian arms against the 
Persian, Turk, and Frank. Where we should build a 



RUSSIAN DEVOTION. 



113 



"bridge, tlie Russians raise a house of God : so that their 
political and social history is brightly written in their 
sacred piles. 

u By night and day, from his cradle to his grave, a 
Eussian lives, as it were, with God ; giving up to His ser- 
vice an amount of time and money which no one ever 
dreams of giving in the West. Like his Arabian brother, 
the Sclavonian is a religious being ; and the gulf, which 
separates such men from the Saxon and the Gaul, is 
broader than a reader, who has never seen an Eastern 
town, will readily picture to his mind. 

The social instincts are, in a Eussian, of exceeding 
strength. He likes a crowd. The very hermits of his 
country are a social crew — not men who rush away into 
lonely nooks, where, hidden from all eyes, they grub out 
caves into the rock and burrow under roots of trees ; 
but brothers of some popular cloister, famous for its 
saints and pilgrims, where they drive a shaft under 
the convent wall, secrete themselves in a hole, and re- 
ceive their food through a chink, in sight of wondering 
visitors and advertising monks. 

With the exception of the larger cities and their 
suburbs, manufacturing is not conducted on a large scale 
in the Eussian towns. There is now considerable manu- 
facturing, in a small way, of textile fabrics, coarse cloths, 
the useful and peculiar material known as Eussian felt, 
wooden vessels, pottery, leather (the Eussian leather, 
which owes its fragrance to a tar made from the birch 
which is used in its tanning, and has an excellent reputa- 
tion all over the world), malt and distilled liquors, in- 
cluding kvas or fermented drinks, and vodka or whisky, 
wrought iron, nails, cheap cutlery, and axes. The Eus- 
sian sheet-iron is made in larger manufactories. The 
population of the towns consists of three classes, the 
merchants, the bunrhers, and the artisans. To these 



114 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



may be added usually some noble families, a few clergy- 
men (the popes, or in some of the towns the priests 
of the Old Believers, or some of the other dissenting 
sects), and government officials of the lower ranks. 

These three classes do not form castes or guilds, for 
an} r man of sufficient capacity and property may pass 
from one to the other. 

The merchant class are generally rich, but illiterate ; 
fond of show in public, and ready to fawn upon any man 
who has money or official rank. The show rooms of 
their houses are large and gaudily decorated, while those 
in which they live are small and dirty. The women of 
this class dress very richly when they appear in public, 
which is but seldom. The merchants have a bad reputa- 
tion for dishonesty in their dealings. The burgher class 
are more intelligent, enterprising, and as a rule more 
moral. The artisans are ingenious, skillful in the use of 
even inferior tools, and where manufacturing is con- 
ducted on a large scale, rapidly acquire the knowledge 
to make their productions successful. The agriculture 
in the suburbs of towns is carried on, much as it is in the 
communes, without much science, though the triennial 
rotation of crops is practiced; but very few Russian 
agriculturists are intelligent. 

Among the national institutions of Russia, there is none 
deserving more careful study than the Yarmark or great 
annual fair at Nijni Novgorod. This city is situated on 
the Upper Volga, at its confluence with the River Oka, 
some 250 miles north-east of Moscow. It is the commer- 
cial centre, the Bourse of the Russian empire. The fairs 
of Russia are numerous, as is necessarily the case in a 
country they afford the only means of disposing of the 
manufactures of each year. That at Nijni Novgorod, 
however, enjoys the pre-eminence of being the one at which 



THE GREAT FAIR OF NIJNI NOVGOROD. 



FIKST ASPECT OF THE FAIR. 



117 



a great part of the wholesale business of the Empire is 
annually transacted during the two months of its continu- 
ance. A recent traveler, Mr. Butler Johnstone, gives the 
following graphic description of the view from the Tower 
of Muravieff, overlooking the scene : 

"Arrived at the summit of your tower, the view which 
now strikes your eye is perhaps the most remarkable in the 
world. There, embraced within the compass of a glance, 
is the whole scene of the Great Fair of Nijni Novgorod. 
A huge flat sandy plain, flanked by two great rivers, is 
covered over with houses of different colors, mostly red and 
yellow, made of brick and wood and matting ; millions of 
this world's richest merchandise stored or strewn in every 
direction ; churches, mosques and theatres rising in their 
midst ; two hundred thousand human beings, more or less, 
engaged in buying, selling, trafficking, pushing, jolting, 
hurrying, in every direction ; barges warped along the 
quays of two rivers still busily engaged in unshipping their 
exhaustless cargoes. At one glance you see all this. You 
begin to think that you have done well to mount this tower, 
and by the help of a good glass you hope to be able to take 
your bearings of the fair. The river at your base is the 
Oka, and running at right angles to it, at the point exactly 
opposite to where you are, the still mightier Volga mixes 
its waters with it. From the apex of the triangle, two 
sides of which are formed by these rivers, and stretching 
further than the eye can see, is the enormous plain which 
I have just described. Amidst the varied and disordered 
scene, a little way to your left, close to the Oka, and about 
a mile from the Volga, you easily detect, from its contrast 
with the * surrounding disorder, an oblong mass of yellow 
houses ranged in regular rows. This is the fair properly 
so-called, the ' Inner Temple ' of commerce as it were, 
whereas all the rest beyond it, and on all sides of it, though 



118 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



covering ten times its area, would, in a governmental point 
of view, be designated its outer courts ; for this oblong 
block of storehouses was what originally constituted the 
Nijni Yarmark ; it was built by the Government, and is 
still owned by the Government, by whom the houses are 
let to the different merchants; it consists of twelve long 
rows of streets, divided into four equal parts by three 
transverse streets running across them : there are thus 
twelve by four, or forty-eight streets, which, allowing for 
about twelve shops to each street, gives us a total of 576 
shops. The whole is surrounded on three sides by a canal 
in the shape of a horseshoe, which is traversed by eight 
bridges. At the open side, that nearest the Oka, instead 
of the canal is a square, where the Govenor's official resi- 
dence, and that of the Chief of the Police, during the 
continuance of the fair, are situated. 

"You can just detect little, low square towers running 
round the buildings inside the water in closure. These are 
the stone-constructed cloacce of the fair. Every street too 
is doubled by a gallery, which follows its whole course un- 
derground, and is flushed with water, worked by pumps, 
several times a day; these cloacce maximce of the Nijni 
Yarmark are certainly the wisest and most creditable part 
of the work of the Government. Although this ' Inner 
Temple' is the centre or heart, it must not be supposed 
that it is the chief part of the fair : the Nijni Yarmark 
has grown out of its swathing clothes. The 'Outer Courts/ 
the enormous faubourgs, larger than cities, which have 
grown up around it, have eclipsed the original habitation 
of commerce, and now themselves contain the most valuable 
products of the fair : the tea from Kiakhta, the cotton from 
Khiva, the Iron from Oural, all are here. The last product 
I have mentioned — the iron, which is one of the most 
valuable of all the commodities brought to Nijni, is stored 



FIRST ASPECT OF THE FAIR. 



121 



on a little sand-island on the Oka, about a mile from its 
junction with the Volga, and nearly opposite the entrance 
of the ' Inner Temple* of the fair. The barges which 
convey this iron from Perm down the Kama, and up the 
Volga, are moored alongside this island. Along the bridge 
which joins it to the mainland a tramway has been laid 
down, on which strongly-constructed carriages, capable of 
carrying 600 poods (3 and l-10th poods are 1 cwt.) each, 
convey the iron to the railway station, some two or three 
miles distant. 

"Along the Volga, from its point of junction with the 
Oka, and for some versts along its course, is what is called 
the Siberian Wharf, along which are moored the boats and 
barges which bring the merchandise to the fair. When 
we descend there we shall see the sturdy Tartar laborer 
busily engaged in unshipping the apparently exhaustless 
treasures of these boats, and for a scene of life and anima- 
tion this is probably the most interesting part of the fair. 
At the furthermost extremity of this wharf you can detect 
with your glass the piles of cubic tsibecks of Kiakhta tea, 
and the low mat-houses, or zinof kas, of the tea-merchants : 
next to them, and nearer to you, are apparently miles of 
bales of cotton, heaped in a long line on the top of one 
another ; then pyramids of cow-hides, out of which the felt 
leggins of the Russian peasant will be made ; and also thick 
heaps of other hides, which, as you see all the droshky- 
horses shying at them, you justly conclude are horse-hides. 
Jars of petroleum and sulphuric acid, and casks of dried 
fruit from the Caucasus, lie scattered about in irregular piles 
all along the quay. The ' Outer Courts/ or faubourgs, of 
the fair can be conveniently divided into two parts; that 
on the east, between the ' Inner Bazaar' and the Volga, 
and that on the opposite, or western, side of the ' Inner 
Bazaar;' the former is the more important of the two." 



122 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



At ISTijni Novgorod we enjoy peculiar opportunities of 
studying the Tartar tribes of Turkestan and on the steppes 
of the Volga, among whom that peculiar form of the 
marriage ceremony still prevails, in which modern research 
has discovered a "survival" of one of the earliest institu- 
tions of the human race. Vestiges of "marriage by cap- 
ture" are found among nearly all the uncivilized races of 
the earth, and though it has now become a mere ceremony, 
it was once a literal fact. In the earliest ages, marriages 
were never contracted within the tribe, and as all other 
tribes were more or less hostile, the custom of stealing a 
bride from the enemy was universal. Indications of this 
custom may be found in the Scriptures, where the remnant 
of the tribe of Benjamin provided itself with wives by 
seizing and carrying off the maidens who were dancing at 
the great religious festival at Shiloh. In legendary Roman 
history, the founders of the Seven-hilled city provided 
themselves with wives by a similar process, the event being 
known under the name of the "Rape of the Sabine 
virgins." 

Among the Tartars, the consent of relatives having been 
obtained, the bridegroom and his friends, arrayed in their 
bravest costumes, ride up to the village of the intended 
father-in-law, when the expectant bride, also in gala dress, 
vaults upon a swift steed and darts off as if to escape for 
her life, followed by the intended husband. It is a point 
of honor with her not to be easily caught, and she some- 
times protracts the race for hours by a sudden dash when 
she seemed within the grasp of the bridegroom. As a 
general thing, however, she surrenders after one trial of 
speed, and is conducted to her new home, where the mar- 
riage feast is spread. 



CHAPTEE IV. 



TUBKEY. ITS HISTORY. 

The origin of the name Tuek is uncertain. Their tra- 
ditionaiy or legendary history is, to a greater extent than 
even that of most Oriental nations, mythical. There are 
no clear traces of them as a distinct nationality much 
earlier than the fifth century after Christ. They claim, 
indeed, to be descended from a grandson of Japheth, 
whom they call Turk or Turko, and who has "been sup- 
posed by some writers to be identical with the Togarmah 
of the Bible, and the Targitaos of Herodotus. They 
claim an original kinship with the Mongols and the Tar- 
tars, and say that their first ancestors were brothers. It 
seems to be probable that the foot-hills of the Altai 
chain of mountains were the cradle of the three races, 
Turk, Mongol, and Tartar. Another and more reasona- 
ble account of their name comes from the Chinese, who 
in the earlier centuries of their national existence were 
the masters of these nomads, to whom at first they gave 
the name of Hiung-nu ; but after ages of submission, 
either nominal or real, they became restless and rebellious, 
and about the commencement of the fifth century after 
Christ, migrated from their old home, at the foot of the 
Altai, toward the southwest, and refused any further 
allegiance to the Chinese. These mioratino- tribes were 
thenceforward called by the Chinese ThuJciu or Tu-ku, 
the latter name being possibly corrupted in time into 
123 



124 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Turk. Be this as it may, it is certain that their progress 
westward began about that time, and that they drove 
out the previous inhabitants of the vast elevated plains 
or steppes lying along the Syr Daria and Ainu Daria 
(the ancient Jaxartes and Oxus), and extending from the 
Caspian Sea and the Sea of Aral toward the southwest. 
Not satisfied with dispossessing these primitive agricul- 
tural tribes of their lands, and compelling them to take 
refuge in Europe, the nomad chief of these migrating 
Turks, who styled himself the Grand Khan, sent his am- 
bassadors to the Emperor Justinian, who then reigned at 
Constantinople, in A. D. 568, to induce him to destroy 
these refugees from the steppes. But though the Emperor 
made a treaty with the Grand Khan, he was not very suc- 
cessful in destroying the fugitives. 

For some centuries these Turks or Turkomans were 
either Buddhists or Shamanists, for as yet Mahomet 
had not promulgated the Koran, or established a religion 
and an empire in one. But early in the tenth century, 
these wild nomad horsemen having penetrated into 
Persia, were brought into contact with Mahome- 
tan chiefs or caliphs, and embraced the religion of 
Mahomet with great readiness, Saliir, a powerful chief 
or Khan, becoming an early convert, and the Grand 
Khan following his example in 960. Saliir gave to his 
tribe on their conversion, the name of Turk-imams or 
Turks of the faith, to distinguish them from the heathen 
Turks. This name, has, it it said, since degenerated into 
Turkomans. 

Their conversion to Islamism did not in the least 
abate the martial fury or ambition of these Turks, but 
rather seemed to inflame it the more. They pressed 
forward over the mountains of Kurdistan, into the 
Mesopotamian plains, along the banks of the Euphrates 



THE SELJTK TUEKS. 



127 



and Tigris, occupying the whole breadth of the land be- 
tween the Persian Gulf and the mountains of Caucasus, 
and between the heights of Ararat and the Black Sea. 
Even the early caliphs and descendants of Mahomet 
who ruled at Bagdad, were compelled to surrender 
to them their temporal power, the spiritual sword being 
reserved to them. Syria and Asia Minor came also 
under their sway, and some writers say that they 
crossed the Archipelago and took possession of the isles, 
and possibly of some of the main land of Greece. 

It is proper to say, however, that these Turks, who 
in the course of two centuries had acquired so vast an 
empire were not, except in a very remote sense, the kins- 
men or ancestors of the Turks who now occupy the 
finest portion of the earth's surface. They were known 
as Seljuk Turks from Seljuk, their Emir or prince, who 
first commenced in Khorassan in Persia, that career of 
conquest, which, under the reign of his great grandson 
Malek Shah, included the whole of Persia, Armenia, 
Syria, the greater part of Asia Minor, and the country 
from the Oxus to beyond the Jaxartes, or from the shores 
of the Mediterranean to the confines of China. Though 
active in promoting mental, and to some extent agricul- 
tural progress, they were fiercely intolerant, putting to 
the sword -all who did not instantly subscribe to the 
Mahometan creed — " God is God : and Mahomet is the 
prophet of God." — Their intolerance and cruelty to the 
Christians of the East provoked the Crusades, and led to 
terrible slaughter, in the effort to hold or to capture the 
holy places of Palestine. 

Like most Oriental empires founded on conquest, and 
having only nomadic races for its subjects, the Seljukian 
Empire of Malek Shah fell to pieces at the very Lour of 
its greatest glory and extension. Four sons of Malek 



128 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



divided the empire among themselves, and in the next 
generation there were a score or more of khans and 
emirs, each ruling over a little state. In Asia Minor 
alone there were ten sultans reigning at once. 

About A. D. 1250, a tribe of Turks, not of the stock of 
the Seljuks, were driven out of Khorassan by the Mon- 
gols, who were then, under Genghis Khan, becoming 
formidable as invaders of the west, and sought pasturage 
for their flocks and herds in Armenia, but, after seven 
years of exile, sought to return to their own land. The 
loss of their leader, who was drowned in the Euphrates, 
led them to break up, and one division, under the guid- 
ance of a warlike and capable Emir named Ertogrul, 
turned westward, and sought for a home in Asia Minor. 
As they proceeded on their course they descried two 
armies drawn up for battle. Ertogrul, like Job's war- 
horse, " smelled the battle afar off, the thunder of the 
captains, and the shouting," and, drawing nearer, joined 
his force to what seemed to be the weaker side, which, 
thus reinforced, won the victory. It was not till after the 
battle was over, that he learned that his ally was the 
Seljukian Sultan of Iconium, and his opponent, the khan 
of an invading horde of Mongols. 

The Seljukian Sultan was, of course, very grateful for 
the aid he had received, and tendered to Ertogrul two 
districts of territory for himself and his people. These 
districts were in the valley of the Sangarius, and in the 
Black Mountains on the borders of Phrygia and Bithy- 
nia. From this moderate beginning began, in the per- 
son of Othman, the son of Ertogrul, the Osmanli dy- 
nasty and empire. The Turks of the present day insist 
that they should be called Osmanlis and not Turks, that 
name, they say, being synonymous with "barbarian." If 
it is, it cannot be denied that the conduct of a large part 



OEIGIN OF THE OSMANlis. 



131 



of the nation, makes it the one name most appropriate 
for them. 

Othman commenced his reign on his father's death, in 
1288. He continued the vassal of the Seljuk Sultan of 
Iconium till the death of that Sultan, claiming only the 
title of Emir. He had made considerable conquests in 
that portion of the Greek empire, which lay in Asia Mi- 
nor, pushing constantly northward into the vicinity of 
Constantinople. On the death of the Sultan Aladdin, in 
1299, Othman declared himself independent, and having 
captured the city of Prusa, now Broussa, he made it his 
capital. Othman was, for the times and for a nomad 
prince, a very able ruler. He was an excellent disciplin- 
arian, and held his hordes to a strict account for all their 
acts. Temperate, vigorous, energetic and enterprising, he 
had also wider views, and more intellectual ability than 
most of the rulers of his time. He wisely divided the 
conquered territories among his chief s to hold in fief, and 
thereby bound them to himself, besides securing safety 
and protection to these new districts. He encouraged 
the commerce and industry of the Greek cities in his 
realm, for these very valid reasons : that he might pre- 
vent all resistance from them ; that he might increase the 
prosperity of his empire, and develop among his own 
people such a taste for commerce, industry, and agricul- 
ture, as should lead them to abandon the nomadic life. 
A number of the Greek cities, not in his realm, volunta- 
rily abandoned the effete Greek empire, and placed them- 
selves under his protection. He died at Broussa, in 
1326, having reigued in all thirty-eight years, and as an 
independent prince twenty-seven years. 

He was succeeded by his son Orchan, who followed 
out his father's ideas in the internal development of the 
young empire, and added something also to its territory 



132 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



by conquest, Xicsea, and Nicomedia, an important city 
on the Black Sea, as well as all the land belonging to 
the Greek empire to the shores of the Black Sea. He 
married a daughter of the Greek Emperor Cantacuzene. 
In 1336 he took a fortified castle on the European shore 
of the Dardanelles, and in 1357, the city of Gallipoli 
itself. 

From this time forward, for a hundred years, the record 
of the Osmanlis is one of continued conquests and inroads 
upon European territory, and the organization of the 
conquered lands into districts (sandjahs) and provinces 
{vilayets). The Janissaries — that formidable military force 
which in after ages ruled and tyrannized over the Sultans, 
till they were at last destroyed in our own century, by a 
terrible and bloody massacre — were first constituted as 
the nucleus of the Ottoman army in 1330. Murad, the 
son of Orchan and grandson of Othman, subdued all of 
Asia Minor which did not already own his sway, and 
conquered Adrianople and most of Bulgaria, and threat- 
ened Thrace, Macedonia, and Servia; all of which be- 
came his tributaries ; his son Bajazet I. added Wallachia, 
Styria, a part of Bosnia, and the whole of Thessaly and 
Morea to his conquests; but in Asia was defeated and 
made prisoner by Timur, the Tartar Khan, often but 
incorrectly called Tamerlane. Adrianople was now the 
Osmanli capital. Mohammed I. the son of Bajazet was 
a peaceful prince, but held what his father had con- 
quered. His son, Murad II. was a warrior, and after 
several battles with John Hunyades the Hungarian hero, 
in two of which Hunyades was the victor, but in the 
third suffered a terrible defeat, and Hungary became a 
tributary of the Osmanli Sultans, he turned his face 
toward Greece, aud conquered the whole of it, as well 
as part of Albania. At the death of Murad, in 1451, 



EXTENT OF THE OSMANLI POWER. 



133 



there was left to the Greek emperors little of their for- 
mer vast empire, except the city of Constantinople and 
its suburbs ; and on the plea, that the Greek emperors 
harbored and aided every pretender to the throne of 
Othnian, the Osmanli Sultans resolved to make an end 
of the Greek empire. They had already their mosques 
in the city, and had waited with strange patience for 
them, till the full time should come for taking possession 
of the city. They already held all its approaches, and, 
as they well knew, there was not one of all the Chris- 
tian powers of Europe, who could send a single regiment 
of troops or a war ship to save Constantinople from 
falling into their hands. Dr. Johannes Blochwitz gives 
this striking picture of the situation : " Serious resist- 
ance on the part of the Western princes was not to be 
thought of, as they were hostile to each other. Italy was 
torn by countless factions. Serious differences prevailed 
between England and France ; and England itself was 
weakened by internal disturbances. Between the mighty 
republics of Genoa and Aragon serious coolness had ex- 
isted for a lono- time : while Charles VII. of France and 
Philip the Good of Burgundy were deterred from any 
common undertaking, by mutual distrust. The German 
emperor summoned the princes who were quarreling 
with him,, and among themselves, to attend a diet, from 
which he absented himself. Switzerland was filled 
with hatred against the Hapsburgs. John Hunyades of 
Hungary was at variance with the magnates of the 
realm. Silesia was in the midst of a revolt against Kins: 
Ladislaus. Alfonso of Xaples made great promises, 
which he Hid not keep. Venice, well armed and rich, 
which had been counted upon, as its valuable possessions 
on the coast of Morea and the islands of the Archipelago 
seemed greatly endangered, preferred to make peace with 



134 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



the Sultans, purchasing for great sums the safety of all 
that could be saved. Finally and unfortunately, Pope 
Nicholas V. died ; the only man of influence and conse- 
quence who had zealously urged a general movement 
against the Turks. His successor Calixtus III. directed 
regular processions and public prayers to be held, and 
the daily ringing of the so-called 1 Turk-bell ' in all the 
towns. Such measures were not calculated to work 
miracles. At a moment when the Ottomans rose like 
one man, to unheard of power, hurling blow upon blow 
against their enemies, this was the pitiful plight of 
Western Christendom ! " 

The time had come ! and Constantinople, a city which 
had already withstood twenty-seven sieges, now hardly 
waited for a siege which was but little more than a farce. 
The Turks brought 250,000 men against the city and a 
naval squadron of 400 sail, while the poor old and 
feeble Constantine XIII. could only count 4,973 soldiers 
and defenders. Constantinople fell on the 29th of May, 
1453, and Mohammed II. made a magnificent entry into 
it, while the head of Constantine XIII., the last Greek 
Emperor, and that of Orchan, a Turkish prince and pre- 
tender, whoni Constantine had sheltered and protected, 
were laid at his feet. But Turkish greed did not end 
with the possession of Constantinople. Why should it, 
when almost all they wanted was to be had for the ask- 
ing? In 1454, Mohammed II. demanded the whole of 
Servia, but Waived his demand for five years for the con- 
sideration of 30,000 ducats a year, and in 1459, it became 
a Turkish province. Belgrade, its capital, one of the 
strongest fortresses in Europe, captured and re-captured 
several times, at last became theirs. The entire Pelopon- 
nesus, Athens, and the island of Lesbos, were seized and 
held ; Wallachia and the greater part of Bosnia, which 



CONQUEST OF HUNGARY. 



137 



had hitherto resisted the progress of the Turk, was sub- 
jugated iu 1462-3, and the last king of Bosnia made a 
prisoner and executed. Albania and Herzegovina, the 
former after a long and valiant resistance, fell into the 
hands of the Sultan in 1467, and within the next ten 
years Venice was defeated and compelled to surrender 
all her Greek possessions, and Karaman, the only portion 
of Asia Minor which still held out, was compelled to sub- 
mit. Moldavia was subdued in 1476, and the Tartars of 
the Crimean Peninsula with 100,000 fi^htin^ men became 
tributary. An attack on Transylvania resulted in the 
only reverse which befell this haughty conqueror. 

Bajazet II., the son of Mohammed, was a peace-loving 
prince, but held for the most part what his father had 
conquered, though he was drawn into a long war with 
Persia, and came into contact with Russia, for the first 
time, in 1495. He had also troubles with his brother and 
son. The latter, Selim, a younger son, finally dethroned 
his father, and perhaps caused his death. 

Selim I., a cruel, brutal, and bloodthirsty Sultan, was 
a notorious truce-breaker, a very Nero for his love of 
blood, the conqueror of Egypt and Syria. He was suc- 
ceeded by Soliman I., surnamed the Magnificent, under 
whom the Ottoman Empire reached its most flourishing 
period. Under him commenced that long struggle, car- 
ried on for two centuries, for the possession of Hungary. 

In his long reign of forty-six years, all of Hungary and 
Transylvania lying east of the Danube, including its 
capital and chief fortress, Buda and Pesth, and the 
Austrian provinces of Sclavonia and Croatia, became 
Turkish provinces, while Hungary remained a portion of 
the Turkish realm till 1686, a hundred and fifty years 
later. Austria and Venice became tributaries to the 
Porte, paying immense sums annually into its treasury, 



138 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



and the latter was forced to relinquish all its possessions 
in the Archipelago. The Sultan had conquered and gov- 
erned all the north coast of Africa, Egypt, Tunis, Tripoli, 
Algiers, and Marocco, and was using the piratical fleets 
of the Beys of Tunis and Algiers to harass the Spanish 
and English commerce in the Mediterranean. France 
was his firm ally, and was used by him to divide his 
enemies, Spain, Austria, Germany, and England, and 
each of these in turn sought his favor. Only Russia had 
successfully resisted his inroads. He had also conquered 
all of Syria and a large part of Persia, making the Shah 
his tributary. In many respects, Soliman was the ablest 
and wisest of the Osmanli Sultans. Aside from his great 
military successes, he had proved himself a skillful civil 
ruler. He had reorganized and greatly improved his 
army; had caused a civil code to be prepared, most of 
the provisions of which are valid to this clay. He had 
organized the taxation and finances of the country; had 
regulated its land-taxes, rents, tariffs, and market dues; 
had established fixed rates for the most necessary arti- 
cles of food, and laws for the protection of animals. He 
had settled the tribute-money for the conquered States and 
dej3endants, and received from them an annual revenue 
of from sixteen to eighteen million dollars, a sum which 
would be equivalent to at least one hundred millions at 
the present day. He had also manifested great interest 
in the advancement of art, science, and literature. 

In the nature of things, it was impossible that such 
prosperity, among a people like the Turks, could be per- 
manent. There were too many elements of corruption, 
degeneration, and decay at work, to permit any long 
* period of uninterrupted success. As a matter of history, 
we find that the decline of the Ottoman Empire com- 
menced with his death, and that it has fallen lower and 



THE SUCCESSOKS OF SOLIMAN. 



139 



lower with each successive generation to the present 
time. It has never increased its territory from that 
time, but has been constantly losing portions of its do- 
main. Some part of this decline is undoubtedly due to 
changes introduced by Soliman himself, and subsequently 
rendered more destructive by his successors. Among 
these changes may be mentioned the withdrawal of the 
Sultan from the Council of Ministers, and from any con- 
nection with, or knowledge of, the details of the admin- 
istration of affairs; the appointment to the highest civil 
offices, and later to army offices, of favorites and the 
friends of favorites, especially of the women of the 
harem, instead of men of wisdom and experience ; the 
traffic in offices and the reception of bribes and fees by 
all the officers of the Porte, from the Grand Vizier down; 
the payment of enormous salaries and perquisites to the 
high officers of State, and the reckless extravagance of 
the court, and especially of the seraglio, or women of the 
harem. The Sultans at this time possessed the absolute 
power of life and death over all their subjects. They 
were at liberty to order fourteen (some say twenty-five) 
men to be beheaded daily, without assigning any reason 
for their action ; if they went beyond this number, they 
were expected to give some excuse, which might, how- 
ever, be a very frivolous one. 

The monarchs who followed Soliman were for the 
most part intemperate, imbecile, cruel, or enervated by 
their vices. The Grand Viziers and the women of the 
seraglio and their favorites, managed affairs as they 
pleased; Selim II. (1566-1574) was intemperate and 
stupid, but his Grand Viziers conquered Arabia and 
Cyprus, though they lost territory of more value in 
Europe and Asia Minor. Murad III. (1575-1695) was 
a buffoon, debauchee and opium-eater. Russia became 



140 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



a formidable enemy during his reign, and Persia harassed 
the Eastern frontier incessantly. Mohammed III. (1595 
—1603) varied his achievements by the murder of nine- 
teen princes of the blood, the debasement of the currency, 
the increase of taxation, and disastrous wars with Aus- 
tria and Persia. His successor Ahmed I. a boy of four- 
teen, weak, incapable and cruel, terminated the war with 
Austria, by the humiliating peace of Sitwatorok in 1606 ? 
which indicated how far the decline had progressed; and 
the Persian war by the almost equally disgraceful peace 
of 1612. From 1617 to 1648 matters went from bad to 
worse in the Ottoman Empire ; Mustapha I. was enervated 
and idiotic; Osman IT., his nephew, so weak and worth- 
less that he was strangled by the officers of his court ; 
Murad IV., who ruled for seventeen years, the most cruel 
and bloodthirsty tyrant who ever occupied the Ottoman 
throne, a man who in five years (1632-1637) caused 
25,000 persons to be strangled or beheaded, and who, 
in his drunken frenzy, was the terror of all who were 
about him ; and Ibrahim I. (1640-1648) a debauchee and 
libertine, wholly under the control of his women and 
favorites, under whose imbecile management, disaster 
succeeded disaster, and revolt followed revolt. 

The long reign of Mohammed IV. (1648-1687) was 
only redeemed from utter worthlessness by the ex- 
ceptional ability of one of his Grand Viziers — Koprili 
— who, for fifteen years, stemmed the tide of corruption 
and infamy, though he achieved no great military suc- 
cesses. Russia and Persia were constantly distressing the 
Ottoman Empire on the North and the East, and the Tar- 
tars of the Crimea and the Don, who had hitherto been 
their most efficient allies, now began to take sides with 
their enemies. Mohammed IV. became so intemperate, 
that he was deposed in 16S7, and died a drunkard, in 



AHMED III. AOT) CHARLES XII. OE SWEDEN. 141 

1692. His two brothers, Soliman II. and Ahmed II., 
reigned from 1687 to 1695, but were both sots, and ut- 
terly unworthy of notice. 

Mustapha II. (1695-1703) was a man of more energy 
and character, and strove to introduce some reforms, but 
the court was so utterly corrupt, that he was dethroned 
and imprisoned. In 1699, he signed the Treaty of Carlo- 
witz, relinquishing Hungary and Transylvania, and half 
of Sclavonia, and restoring to Venice most of her posses- 
sions in the Archipelago. Subsequent treaties, with Po- 
land and Russia, surrendered to them large tracts of 
frontier, hitherto claimed by the Turks. 

Ahmed III. (1703-1730) was placed on the throne by 
a revolt of the army, and twenty-seven years later de- 
posed by the same means. He possessed very little 
force of character, but during the last twelve years of his 
reign was fortunate enough to have an able Grand Vizier. 
During his reign, Charles XII. of Sweden appeared in 
the field, and after being defeated, domiciled himself 
at Bender in Turkish territory, and attempted to stir up 
the Tartars and Moldavians to hostilities against Russia, 
with which power, Turkey after a long war was at peace. 
The Turks requested him to leave their territory, but he 
refused and defended himself with 300 Swedes, against 
6,000 Turks and 20,000 Tartars. He was captured at 
last, and after a year's imprisonment in a Turkish castle, 
sent back to Sweden in 1713, by the mediation of Eng- 
land and Holland. A war with the Montenegrins — 
often repeated since — led to one with Venice, who re- 
fused to give up the fugitives from Montenegro, and this 
to one against Austria, who became the ally of Venice. 
This resulted in the surrender by the Turks of Croatia, 
Wallachia, Servia, and about half of Bosnia, with the 
important fortresses of Belgrade and Semendria. 



142 THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 

Persia made a treaty with the Russian Czar, ceding to 
him, in return for promised aid, the whole southern shore 
of the Caspian Sea, which secured Russia's supremacy 
there. This led to another war with Russia. 

Mahmoud I. (1730-1754) succeeded to the throne on 
the deposition of Ahmed III. His administration was 
only remarkable for another war with Persia, and after- 
ward with Russia and Persia. The result of these wars 
did not materially change the condition of these coun- 
tries. Some territory was lost, and some gained by each. 
All Europe, and a large part of Asia, was at war during 
most of this period, but Mahmoud was wise enough not 
to take a part in the conflicts of the other powers* 

The brief reign of Osman III. (1754-1757) was entirely 
Uneventful, but that of his successor, Mustapha III. (1757 
-1773) was characterized by war with Austria and Russia ; 
by some of the most wily diplomacy between the Great 
Powers, and eventually by the heaviest losses, which the 
Ottoman Empire had yet experienced. By the disgrace- 
ful peace of Ktitjiik Kainardji (1776), the Crimean Tar- 
tars were turned over to Russia, together with the ports 
of Kertch, Jenikala, and Azof, the free navigation of the 
Black Sea, and the Sea of Marmora, and other commer- 
cial privileges; the partial independence of Moldavia 
and Wallachia, and the payment by Turkey of an in- 
demnity of $3,375,000. 

Abd-ul Hamid I., who reigned from 1774 to 1789, was a 
weak and incapable ruler, whose administration was con- 
stantly disturbed by revolts and corruption. There were 
serious revolts in Syria, and Egypt threatened war with 
Persia, and a new war with Russia and Austria, in the 
midst of which the Sultan died. His successor, Selim 
III. (1789 to 1807), made treaties of peace at Sistova and 
Jassy in 1791, yielding additional territory to the two 



MAHMOUD n. 



r 143 



powers. The reign of Selini III. was one of great and 
almost constant changes among the European powers, 
France being at one time hostile to the Porte, and Russia 
with England, its ally ; while Egypt was in revolt, and 
liable to capture from France ; within one or two years 
Eussia was in alliance with France; and at war with 
Turkey, and Eussia and France were disputing about 
the portion which each should take in the eventual dis- 
ruption of Turkey. Egypt became virtually indepen- 
dent, and while war was still raging between Turkey 
and Eussia, the reforms introduced by the Sultan in the 
organization of his army caused a revolt, and Selim III. 
was cast into prison, and presently strangled. His suc- 
cessor, Mustapha IV., reigned but a single year, when he, 
too, was imprisoned and put to death. 

Mahmoud II. (1808 to 1839) was the only really able 
sovereign Turkey has had for more than two hundred 
years. He was a man of great abilities and of high 
character ; but he had fallen upon an evil time. His 
two immediate predecessors had been assassinated ; a 
long and desperate war with Eussia was in progress ; 
the Wohabis (Moslem fanatics in Arabia, who had re- 
volted from the sway of the Sultan) were not fully sub- 
dued, and Mehemet Ali, Viceroy of Egypt, the instru- 
ment who had been used in their subjugation, was 
himself aspiring to independence. Servia, which had 
revolted in 1804, succeeded in securing to itself an inde- 
pendent government, paying only a moderate tribute to 
the Porte. Syria was in a ferment, through French in- 
fluence and the machinations of Mehemet Ali; and 
Greece was already commencing that struggle which, 
twenty-two years later, resulted in her complete inde- 
pendence. Above all else, the Janissaries, the stand- 
ing army which had for a hundred years or more 



144 THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 

ruled sultans and ministry, which had strangled Selim 
III., and Mustapha IV., grown bold and insolent by its 
successes, undertook to dictate to Mahmoud II. what he 
should, and what he should not do, under the penalty of 
following the fate of his predecessors. Such bondage to 
this horde of ruffians was past endurance ; but Mahmoud 
nursed his wrath and kept it warm, till the time when he 
could avenge the insults to himself and his predecessors 
effectually. Meanwhile, other and still more important 
matters claimed his attention. The favorable settlement 
with Servia had inflamed the desires of the Danubian 
principalities, Moldavia and Wallachia, to obtain an 
equal measure of freedom ; and then, as before and since, 
there were not wanting Russian nobles who stimulated 
those desires. Capo d'lstria, a Russian Plenipotentiary 
to the Congress of Vienna, an artful politician, saw and 
sympathized with these anti-Turkish movements, both 
on the Danube and in Greece, and though he could not, 
in his official capacity, appear openly as the friend of the 
insurrectionists, he incited others to take the lead in these 
movements. A secret society was organized in Odessa, 
generally known as the Philhellenes, but really bearing 
the name of Hetairia Pliilike, or " Society of Friends," 
whose oath bound them to constant and life-long effort 
for the independence of their countries, and to irrecon- 
cilable hatred to tyrants and their followers. The mem- 
bers of the society were mostly Greeks, though its 
branches extended through Southern Russia, the Princi- 
palities, Albania, and Greece. The brothers Ypsilanti, 
Greeks by birth, but in the service of Russia, were the 
leaders of this society, and while Alexander organized 
revolt in Moldavia, his brother Nicholas stimulated Greece 
to revolution. This was in 1821. By the machinations 
of Prince Metternich, Russia was prevented from aiding 



THE MURDER OF THE GREEK PATRIARCH. 147 

Moldavia; and Ali Pasha, of Janina, who had been a 
brigand and a mountain robber, then governor of the 
sandyak of Janina, and afterwards a revolutionary 
chief of the most sanguinary and ferocious character, 
was at last overcome and executed. The Greeks were 
defeated at Dragatshaw, but though the revolt was sup- 
pressed elsewhere, it could not be subdued in the moun- 
tains of the Hellenic peninsula. It was reported and 
generally believed that there was an extensive and well- 
arranged conspiracy to burn Constantinople and assassin- 
ate the Sultan ; and that hoary-headed old sinner, Ali 
Pasha, during the siege of Janina which preceded its 
capture and his execution, often boasted to his foes, that 
he should be permitted to see it. 

It was a lamentable, though perhaps, when we consider 
that the Sultan was a bigoted Turk, not an unnatural 
result, of this three-fold threatening of disaster, all 
proceeding from Greek sources, — -the conspiracy against 
the city and himself, the uprising in Moldavia, and that 
in the Peloponnesus, — that Mahmoud should have given 
way to frantic rage, and let loose the passions of his 
Moslem subjects against Greek Christians in Constanti- 
nople, and in other towns of the empire. Thousands of 
innocent victims were sacrificed to their vengeance, with- 
out knowing why they were slain. On Easter-day the 
greatest of the Greek festivals, Gregorius, the patriarch 
of the Greek Church, in Constantinople, was executed at 
the door of his own church ; and, as the greatest possible 
indignity w T hich could be offered to it in the eyes of his 
countrymen^ his body was delivered to Jews, to be drag- 
ged through the streets. Other ecclesiastics of high 
rank were executed in a similar way, as well as thousands 
of Greeks of all classes. The object of these atrocious 
butcheries was to quell the revolt by terror, and to pre- 



148 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



vent its extension. In the years that followed, the Greeks 
and Albanians, whenever they had the opportunity, 
showed that they had been apt scholars in those lessons 
of ferocity. The war with Greece was disgraced by 
every species of cruelty and brutality, of which the human 
mind can conceive. In 1822, the Greeks adopted their 
first constitution at Piadha, and so bravely and stub- 
bornly did they fight, that the Turks were compelled to 
call upon Mehemet Ali, Viceroy of Egypt, to help them 
to subdue them. Mehemet Ali sent his son Ibrahim 
Pasha with an army and fleet to devastate Greece, and 
horrible as had been the outrages of the Turks, those in- 
flicted by the Egyptians w^ere infinitely worse. At the 
close of 1825, Missolonghi, the Greek stronghold, surren- 
dered, and the English, French, and Russian fleets sailed 
for the Mediterranean, to put an end to the horrors of the 
strife, and finally, in the naval battle of Navarino, de- 
stroyed the entire Turco-Egyptian fleet. The Greeks 
then elected Capo d'Istria their president. The Otto- 
man Porte still refused to yield the independence of 
Greece, and Russia proclaimed war against it early in 
1828, and England and France maintained a hostile neu- 
tral! t v. Russia over-matched her antagonist in this war, 
which terminated in 1830, and gained as a result of the 
war, a part of Armenia, an indemnity of twenty million 
dollars, the demolition of the frontier Turkish forts, the 
partial independence of the Danubian principalities, and 
the concession of the independence of Greece ; but she 
paid dearly for her victory. One hundred and sixty-four 
thousand of her troops perished — not in battle — but from 
disease and want of food. 

But before the result was reached, Mahmoud felt 
that the time had come for him to take vengeance 
on the Janissaries. He re-organized his army in 1825, 



THE SLAUGHTER OF THE JANISSARIES. 



149 



raising a force, which was regularly drilled under his own 
superintendence, had a common uniform, and was exer- 
cised by foreign officers in the tactics of the armies of 
other nations. This body being formed, he ordered, in 
1826, a number of the Janissaries to be incorporated with 
the new levies, as a preparatory step to the enrollment of 
the whole, and the complete suppression of this turbu- 
lent order of soldiers. As he supposed would be the 
case, these peaceful means failed to effect his purpose. 
Proud of their distinct and separate organization, ac- 
customed to consider themselves a privileged class, op- 
posed to every change, and of an insubordinate temper, 
they refused to obey the mandate, gathered to the At- 
nieidan, the ancient race-course of the Romans, their 
ordinary place of assembly, and imperiously demanded 
the heads of those who had advised the measure. 

The Sultan apprehended the peculiar character of the 
crisis. He felt at once that the hour was come when he 
must either rid himself of this factious soldiery, or sub- 
mit forever, and more completely, to the humiliating 
bondage of their control. In this emergency he ordered 
the " sandjak sheriffe," or sacred standard of the empire, 
to be unfolded, and resolved to commit himself to the 
loyalty of the people. This standard, which was sup- 
posed to have belonged to the prophet himself, was pre- 
served with care in the seraglio, and revered as the most 
solemn relic of him possessed by his disciples. It was 
never unrolled, except on great occasions, and had not 
been exhibited for more than half a century. The idea 
of appealing to its protection was a most politic one, 
as all classed, except the rebels, rallied round the revered 
flag. It was conveyed in formal procession to the 
mosque of Achmet, near the Atmeidan, attended by the 
Sultan, his court, and household, the magistrates of the 



150 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



city, the new troops, the corps of artillery, and a crowd 
of the speedily armed populace. The Janissaries, having 
"been placed out of the protection of the law by sxfetwa* 
of the grand mufti, were assailed in the square, and 
three hours sufficed to annihilate the body, whose mili- 
tary ascendancy had once made the sovereigns of Europe 
tremble abroad, as it had the Sultans at home. Num- 
bers fell on the spot beneath the fire of the artillery, 
after a vain resistance ; but how many was never posi« 
tively known. f Others escaped to perish miserably in 
their barracks. Those stationed in the provinces had 
afterwards the alternative offered them of submission or 
the sword ; and thus the formidable corps was forevei 
abolished. Mahmoud decreed the extinction of the name. 
Their dress was prohibited; their camp-kettles, which 
had so often given the signal of revolt, were destroyed ; 
their barracks were taken down, or appropriated to 
other purposes; and every trace of the long-dreaded 
militia of the capital was swept away. 

From this period, the year 1826, Mahmoud gave free 
utterance to the magical word " reform ; " and, though 
opposed in his plans by the inveterate prejudices of his 
subjects, while his own attention was distracted by 
foreign hostilities, it was introduced, to a great extent, 
into every department of the State. Pantaloons and 
frockcoats were substituted in the costume of the mili- 
tary for long flowing robes and loose shalwars ; and the 
u fez," or cap of red cloth, took the place of the turban. 
Even the UlemaJ were ordered to lay aside their dis- 
tinctive turbans and adopt the red skull-cap, a measure 
of more importance than it seems, as it tended to amal- 

* Fetwa, a decree of excommunication. 

\ Blocliwitz states the number as more than fifteen thousand. 
\ Ulema, the ecclesiastical body at the capital ; literally those learned in the 
law, i. e. of the Koran. 



THE ALGERIAN" "WAR. 



151 



gamate a proud and powerful order with the mass of 
the community. While subjecting his recruits to 
European training, the Sultan underwent the discipline 
himself, and persevered, until he could ride upon the sad- 
dle as well as any cavalry officer, and put a regiment 
through its evolutions like a European colonel. With 
an iron hand he repressed disaffection, and visited with 
instant punishment, as guilty of treason, those who ven- 
tured to murmur at his reforms. But not unfrequently 
prompt proceedings led to the execution of the innocent 
for the guilty. 

His new army was not destined to be long without 
employment. The Algerian war which almost immedi- 
ately followed the acknowledgment of Greek independ- 
ence, dragged along for six or seven years, finally ending 
in the cession of most of the country to France. In 
1832, the ambitious Viceroy of Egypt resolved to con- 
quer Syria, and sent his army there on a frivolous pre- 
text. Mahmoud ordered him to withdraw, and directed 
that both parties should bring their complaints to him. 
Mehemet refused, and speedily conquering Syria, crossed 
•the Taurus and defeating the Sultan's army on the plains 
of Konieh, advanced upon Constantinople. The enemies 
of Mahmoud in the city, were very willing to see him 
overthrown, and but for the intervention of Russia, he 
must have lost his empire and his life. The Viceroy 
was defeated, and a treaty made yielding him Syria, for 
which, however, he was to pay a heavy tribute ; and to the 
Czar, the closing of the Dardanelles for ten years to. 
every enemy of his empire. 

But Mehemet Ali was not quite satisfied with what 
he had gained by this first war, and refusing to pay trib- 
ute any longer, he renewed the war in 1839, and it was 
in progress when the Sultan died, July 2, 1839. 



152 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



In 1837, Mahraoud had proclaimed a new State organi- 
zation entirely reforming the administration of civil af- 
fairs, but these reforms were still in a transitional state 
at the time of his death. Though a man flawed by- 
many crimes, and by the circumstances in which he was 
placed, and the evil times upon which he had fallen, 
compelled to do many things abhorrent to his nature, and 
a strong adherent to the faith of Islam, Mahraoud II. 
deserves the credit of having honestly and earnestly en- 
deavored, amid the strongest and most persistent op- 
position, to reform the Turkish nation internally and ex- 
ternally. 

If there had been any considerable capacity for im- 
provement in the race ; even a tithe of what Peter the 
Great and the two Alexanders have found in the 
Russians, the Osmanli race ought to-day, to have been 
a great, powerful, and intelligent nation. But the 
Moslem Turk is utterly incapable of any considerable 
advance. Both his religion, and the habits and char- 
acter of the race forbid it. It is to be regretted that 
this bold, brave reformer should, in the later years of 
his reign, have followed the bad example of many of 
his predecessors, and have became addicted to intem- 
perate habits, notwithstanding the absolute prohibition 
of the Koran. 

His son Abd-ul Medjid (1839—1861) succeeded him, 
and at first continued the reforms which his father had 
commenced. He had on his hands the war with Mehe- 
met Ali, and soon found himself in a perilous position. 
His army was defeated at Nessib in the Valley of the 
Euphrates, and the Turkish admiral proved a traitor, and 
carried off the fleet with him to the Viceroy. At this 
moment the European powers interfered, and offered 
Mehemet Ali the hereditary government of Egypt and 



ABD-UL MEDJID'S APATHY. 



155 



the Pashalic of Acre ; he refused these terms and the 
fleets of the allied powers at once proceeded to the 
coast of Syria, captured Beirut, Said, and St. Jean d Acre, 
and drove him out of Syria. A treaty of peace followed, 
by which the Viceroy was confirmed in the possession of 
Egypt, which was made hereditary, on the payment of 
tribute to the Porte, and in other respects he was placed 
on the footing of a vassal pasha, subject to the laws of 
the empire. Under the wise counsels of his Grand 
Vizier, Redshid Pasha, and the English ambassador, 
Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, the earlier years of Abd-ul 
Medjid's reign gave great promise of improvement. The. 
Tanzimat or Hatti Scheriff of Gulhane, a decree conced- 
ing equal rights and justice to all classes of Ottoman 
subjects, was promulgated, November 3, 1830, and 
was received with satisfaction by the more enlightened 
classes, and especially by the Christian subjects of the 
Porte. But the ignorant, bigoted, and fanatical portion 
of the Turkish population opposed it strongly, and were 
prompted by it, to renewed outrages against the Christian 
inhabitants. Had Abd-ul-Medjid possessed his father's 
firmness and resolution, he would have enforced the laws 
drawn in accordance with the Tanzimat, and have brought 
those who opposed it to prompt and condign punish- 
ment ; but he was weak, apathetic, and controlled by the 
women of his harem, and though he would occasionally, 
under the remonstrances of Lord de Bed cliff e, rouse him- 
self, and issue some new edict like the decree of 1850, 
which proclaimed that the professors of all religions 
were equal in the eye of the law, yet having made the 
effort required for this, he would very soon relapse into 
his previous state of apathy, and the edict would re- 
main a dead letter on the statute book until he was 
again goaded to action. So well was this understood 



156 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



by the Turks, that, after Lord Stratford de Redcliffe 
had resigned as Ambassador, whenever any outrage or 
act of oppression was perpetrated upon the Christians 
or Missionaries, and they declared their intention of ap- 
pealing to the Sultan, they would be met with the 
taunting reply, " Oh ! Lord Stratford isn't in Constanti- 
nople any more." 

For the first fourteen years of his reign there were no 
wars, except some contentions between the Druses and 
Maronites, and some predatory violence of certain tribes 
of Arabs in Syria and Mesopotamia. In the Hun- 
garian war of 1849, Turkey was favorable to Hun- 
gary, and though she did not give military assistance 
to the Hungarians, received their refugees with open 
arms. 

The war with Russia in 1853-56, in which England, 
France, and Sardinia were the allies of Turkey, and 
Austria a secret helper, was j>erhaps the only war be- 
tween the two powers, Russia and Turkey, in which the 
latter had not been directly or indirectly the aggressor. 
We speak of that war more at length elsewhere. Suffice 
it to say here, that Russia was the loser, as she deserved 
to be. The European statesmen endeavored to improve 
the opportunity afforded by the results of this war, to 
enforce upon the Sultan the necessity of more liberal and 
just treatment of the Christian populations of the em- 
pire ; they succeeded, to the extent of procuring the pro- 
mulgation of the Hatti-Hurnayoum of 1856, which like 
all the edicts which had preceded it, has never been en- 
forced. 

In the latter years of his reign Abd-ul Medjid sur- 
passed all his predecessors in reckless extravagance, bor- 
rowing immense sums which were lavished on his favor* 
ites, or expended to gratify the whims of his odalisques. 




MAKINITES OF MT. LEBANON. 



EXTRAVAGANCE OP ABD-UL AZIZ. 



159 



He died in June, 1861, leaving behind him no desirable 
reputation. 

Of his brother and successor Abd-ul Aziz, who reigned 
from 18G1 to 1876 not much that is good can be said; 
weaker in mind than his brother, he very soon lapsed 
into habits of dissipation and extravagance. Some of his 
ministers were men of ability. A general insurrection 
of the Greeks in Candia and other islands of the Archi- 
pelago, in 1866, was put down with all the old time bar- 
barity and cruelty of the Turks. The decrees of the 
preceding reigu were not enforced, and the condition of 
corruption, oppression and misrule was, day by day, grow- 
ing more intolerable. The Christian rayahs, or farmers 
of the provinces, were robbed by the tax-farmers, beaten 
and abused by Turkish officials, until life was made a 
weariness. The finances of the nation were in a most de- 
plorable condition ; no interest, or next to none, paid on 
loans ; the credit of the government entirely destroyed, 
and a large deficit, often of fifty or sixty millions of 
dollars in the annual revenues ; and, meanwhile, the Sul- 
tan was building a magnificent new palace, every year, 
which, when completed, he never entered. 

Revolts commenced in Bosnia and the Herzegovina, on 
account of the cruel oppression of the farmers, and these 
were put down with great severity ; the tendency to 
revolt extended to Bulgaria, and it was suppressed there, 
with atrocities which we have recorded elsewhere, and 
which are enough to make even the white paper blush 
for shame. 

At length, thoroughly disgusted with his imbecility, 
the ruling classes in Constantinople demanded the depo- 
sition of Abd-ul Aziz from power; this took place May 
30, 1876, and was followed, a week later, by his suicide. 
He was succeeded by his nephew Murad V., who, in a 



160 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



reign of three months, proved so imbecile, that he too 
was deposed, and August 31, 1876, his second nephew, 
Abd-ul Hamid II., took his place. Of him we speak 
at length elsewhere ; and thus conclude our historical 
sketch of Turkey. 



CHAPTEE V. 



THE RELIGION, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE OSMANLIS 
AND OF THE ASIATIC AND SCLAVONIC PROVINCES 
OF TURKEY. 

Mahometanism, in a Moslem State, is not only the 
State religion, but it is the fundamental law of the State. 
All government must be based on it, and the sovereign 
who dares to depart from its principles, is sure to be 
deposed, and almost equally sure to be put to death. 
The organization of the State is, as a consequence, more 
thoroughly ecclesiastical, than any other known to civili- 
zation. The Sultan or Padishah, though he possesses 
the power of life and death over his subjects, is not in 
the highest sense, an autocrat; he must consult with 
the Ulema, a politico-ecclesiastical body composed of 
the Mussulman clergy or Mollahs, and the interpreters 
of the law according to the Koran, or Muftis. The 
" Sheik-ul-Islam " or head of the church, is the representa- 
tive of both, in the government, and he at times finds it 
necessary to consult with the Ulema or individual mem- 
bers of it, before giving an opinion to the Sultan. 

But before proceeding to give a more full account of 
the politico-ecclesiastical organization of this most re- 
markable *of the Mahometan empires, let us examine 
briefly what Mahometanism is, and how far it is respon- 
sible for the want of progress, and even the retrograde 
movement, of every nation which has professed it. 

161 



162 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



Of all the religions of which our world is so full, none 
bears the evidence of higher native genius, in its con- 
struction, than Mahometanism. No other, except the 
divinely inspired one communicated to man through the 
Scriptures, was ever so admirably suited to meet the 
wants, and gratify the wishes of the Oriental man. 
Yet the difference between the two is as wide as the 
universe. The religion of Christ is a religion of self- 
denial, of beneficence and good will to man; of 
charity, in its best and highest sense; of sacrifices for 
others without hope of earthly reward; its recompenses 
are spiritual ; its enjoyments are all or mostly in the 
future, and its promises of salvation and future happi- 
ness are not the result of merit, but only of faith in Him, 
who has made an atonement for us, by sacrificing His 
life for ours. The religion of Mahomet is, in the first 
place, a Deism ; it recognizes God as sustaining but one 
relation, that of Creator, to man ; but it deifies Mahomet 
as his prophet and apostle ; and while it commends cer- 
tain not difficult virtues to man, its rewards are all 
sensuous, and the life and work it inculcates are all con- 
nected with the indulgence of the grossest passions. The 
Koran commends polygamy, it incites the faithful to 
propagate Mahometanism by the sword ; it makes the 
highest joys of its sensual heaven, the reward of the 
destruction of the infidel, and inculcates a fatalism which 
makes the Moslem believer utterly indifferent to life, 
since he is sure of the joys of paradise, if he has only 
observed the five commandments of Islam — prayer, alms- 
giving, fasting, pilgrimage, and war against the infidel. 
The religion of Mahomet, like most false religions, ac- 
knowledges no connection between morality and faith. 
The most devout Moslem may be a murderer, a thief, a 
criminal of the deepest dye ; but if he prays regularly 




MAHOMETAN MOLLAH OE CLEEGY. 



CHAKACTEK OF THE MAHOMETAN. 



165 



and fasts at the proper time, and if, above all, he makes 
war upon the infidel, he is sure of a place in paradise. 
He must not drink wine, but distilled liquors he may- 
indulge in, to intoxication. To his co-religionists he must 
tell the truth, but he is under no obligation to waste the 
truth upon an infidel or a Christian dog. He ought 
not to steal from a Mussulman, but the property of the 
infidel is the reward of the true believer. He should 
show kindness to helpless animals, and be merciful to 
them ; but why should he waste his compassion on a 
Christian dog, who is destined to burn forever in Ge- 
henna ? 

Such a religion, so inwrought in every political, social, 
and moral relation of every Moslem believer, cannot 
but have a powerful influence upon the character, and 
capacity of a nation, composed of such believers, for 
progress and advancement in civilization; and facts 
justify the position of some of our ablest historians, that 
any real civilization is impossible for the Turk, until he 
abandons the Koran and the faith of Mahomet. Of 
course, in the light and knowledge which forces itself 
upon nations surrounded by a higher civilization in this 
nineteenth century, the continued existence of such a 
nation is a struggle, which can have but one of two ter- 
ruinations ; either it must abandon Islamism, or it must 
go to the wail. Unhappily, while all that was vital in 
the Mahometan faith has been gradually eaten out in 
the larger cities, the empty shell remains, and is strong 
enough to bring about their destruction as a nation. In 
the country and the provinces, the old bigotry yet remains. 
As long as the Turks entertained no doubt of the su- 
periority of their religion, they zealously practised its 
tenets, and only revealed the natural deformities of a 
system, which, while it enforces and exaggerates the 



166 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Value of certain specific social virtues, more than makes 
up for it, by giving the reins to all the vrorst passions 
inherent in human nature. In those days of Turkish 
blissful ignorance, the bigoted follower of Mahomet 
was simply grossly licentious, brutal, cruel, formally po- 
lite but coarsely boorish, and living upon the labor and 
sufferings of his Christian subjects, or the poorer of his 
own creed. In those days, the European giaour (Christian 
or infidel) could not show his face in a Turkish mosque 
without danger of assassination on the spot ; nor could 
he travel in the land, except in disguise, armed to the 
teeth, and accompanied by a trusty guard. But the last 
fifty years have wrought a great change in the ideas of the 
Moslem. He has discovered, that he lies at the bottom 
of the ladder of civilization, while the giaours are at the top. 
Devout Moslems are free to confess that the Mussulman 
faith has perished from the land. With exceptions that 
are fast growing more and more rare, the few forms yet 
negligently practised, are the result of old habit, rather 
than of j)resent conviction. Attachment to race .and 
caste, the remaining hatred of anything " infidel," and the 
love of power, still keep together the crumbling ele- 
ments of the Turkish nationality. The people, brought 
into near contact with European civilization, have lost 
their old faith, while they have adopted nothing as yet 
in its stead; and they are burdened with the vicious 
character, the uncontrolled passions, the low, degraded 
tastes which their religion so long and so assiduously fost- 
ered in them. They are as yet, in general, unable to 
make up their minds to seek a better system of faith or 
morals, or a sounder civilization, by the pride which re- 
fuses to cast the superannuated pages of the Koran into 
the flames. Yet while this description applies to the 
greater part of those who still cling to the remains of 



SACKED CITY OF THE MOHAMMEDANS. 



169 



their dead faith, it should be said that considerable 
numbers are inquiring into the evidences of Christianity, 
and the truth or falsehood of Mahometanism, and they 
often discuss these topics among themselves ; the pros- 
perity of Christian Europe is doubtless an argument for 
the correctness of its religious belief, which is quite un- 
answerable to many minds ; and prophecies of the speedy 
fall of the Turkish commonwealth are freely circulated 
and generally credited. A small number have renounced 
their old faith, and have been received by baptism into 
the communion of the Armenian, Protestant, and Romish 
Churches. There can be no doubt that the collapse of 
the Turkish empire in Europe, would be followed by the 
conversion to Christianity of large numbers of these 
Mahometan inquirers. It is, however, worthy of notice 
that the sincerest converts among them show more or 
less of the vicious education and training they received 
under the influence of Mahometanism ; it is the second 
generation alone, the children of these converts, who ap- 
pear to be free from the brutalizing effects of the 
system. 

As is well-known, the sacred city of the Mohammedan 
religion is Mecca, in Arabia, situated near the coast of the 
Red Sea, within the Ottoman domains. Mohammedanism 
prescribes to all its votaries to make a pilgrimage in their 
lives to these holy places. By performing this duty, they 
acquire a title to the veneration of their fellows under the 
name of Hadjis, or holy men. The special object of the 
pilgrimage is the great temple of the Kaaba, within which 
is a shrine containing the sacred black stone bearing the 
same name. This stone is built into a corner of the wall 
at a convenient height to be kissed by the pilgrims. On 
leaving Mecca, the pilgrims usually visit Medina, where is 
the tomb of the Prophet, and they often visit Jerusalem, 



170 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



wliich is also considered a holy city. The headquarters 
of Mohammedan learning, however, is not Mecca, but 
Beyrout, on the Syrian coast of the Mediterranean, in ancient 
Phoenicia, a city famous for its colleges and learned men, and 
where many works are printed in the Arabic language. 

Among the numerous sects of Mohammedans who in- 
habit the Lebanon and Northern Syria, the chief are the 
Druses, the Metewalies, the Nusairiyeh and the Ismailiyeh, 
who agree with the Shiites, of Persia, in paying almost 
divine honors to Ali, the fourth Caliph of Islam, the son- 
in-law of Mohammed. The Druses have been brought 
into prominence by their bloody feuds with the Maronite 
Christians. They owe their origin to Hakem, the third 
Fatimite Caliph of Egypt, of the line deriving its descent 
and name from Fatima, daughter of Mohammed and wife 
of Ali. Uniting in his own person the blood of the two 
most eminent founders of Islam, Hakem, who died in 1025, 
aspired to surpass them in the veneration of the votaries of 
Islam, and being seconded by his crafty Imam, Hamze, he 
succeeded in founding the still existing sect of the Druses, 
which ascribes to him divine honors. One of the peculi- 
arities of this sect consists in the singular horns (see en- 
graving), which are worn upon their heads by the Druse 
women. The Druses now number about 100,000; the 
Metewalies, who have their chief seat at Baalbek, number 
30,000 ; the Nusairiyeh or Ansairiyeh, on the Syrian coast 
of the Mediterranean, about 150,000, while the Ismailiyeh, 
called " Assassins," or followers of the " Old Man of the 
Mountain," are reduced to a few scattered groups in the 
Mountains of Lebanon, blended with the Southern Nu- 
sairiyeh. A deeply interesting account of the latter was 
published at Beyrout, in 1863, by Sulaiman, one of their 
number, and was translated by Prof. E. E. Salisbury, in 
vol. viii. of the Journal of the American Oriental Society. 



CONDITION OF CHRISTIANS OF TURKEY. 173 



From it we learn that the sect derives its name from one 
Mohammed ben JSTusair, of whose native country, date and 
personal history nothing is known. The Nusairiyeh con- 
sider Ali as the latest incarnation of the one God, who 
! had previously been incarnate in Abel, Seth, Joseph and 
Joshua. Mohammed is considered as an " Intermediary," 
i. e.,& Messiah who was a new incarnation of most of the 
Old Testament prophets. Mohammed created Salman el 
Farsi "the Communicator" or "Revealer," who is the third 
person of the Nusairiyan Trinity. They are mystically 
represented by their initials, A. M. S., a cabalistic word 
which is much used in their liturgy, and to the use of 
which magical powers are ascribed. It may possibly be 
connected with the Persian A. U. M., and the Buddhist O. 
M. The Communicator had been incarnate in the mothers 
of all the prophets, and consequently answers to the female 
principle in several Oriental trinities. The doctrine of 
transmigration of souls is, as may be seen, a fundamental 
one among these singular people, who are divided into 
four sects, respectively worshiping the heavens, the moon, 
the twilight and the air as manifestations of Ali. 

The Christians of Turkey are in a condition much 
more favorable to improvement, so far as it depends 
upon their own mental and moral preparation. They 
had been brought to perhaps the lowest degree of deg- 
radation 'possible for nominal Christians, by causes, whose 
severity and long continuance are unparalleled in the 
world's history. The Moslem had most cruelly oppressed 
them for four centuries; their schools had long been 
closed, their books destroyed, and they had been com- 
pelled to give up the use of their own Christian tongue, 
and to speak only Turkish ; they were reduced to beg- 
gary, and worked for their living with an incessant and 
bitter persecution constantly pursuing them, not so much 



174 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



carried on by the government as "by the whole ruling 
race. But Christian Europe has at last come to their aid 
■ — lukewarmly and slowly, and sometimes very unwisely; 
but still their condition has been vastly ameliorated; 
they enjoy a considerable measure of security for life 
and property, at least compared to their former state ; 
and their improvement in wealth, and the rapid prog- 
ress of education among them, sufficiently attest the fact, 
that however degraded by oppression, their religious 
faith possesses all the elements of vitality. The destruc- 
tion of learning had brought their Christianity to the 
condition of a degrading idolatry ; but with the progress 
of education, they are every day purifying their faith, 
and thousands of them, in all parts of the empire, have 
already rejected the unscriptural superstitions and errors 
which had accumulated during the ages of ignorance, 
and are worthy illustrations of the ennobling and civiliz- 
ing influence of Evangelical Christianity. The Chris- 
tians of Turkey, though, their masters still refuse to allow 
them to testify before a court of justice, and thus keep 
them in the position of slaves, whose lives and property 
are in the hands of men of a strange faith, are yet fast 
taking a position of moral and intellectual superiority 
to the ruling race. 

There are, however, many interesting traits in the 
character of the populations of Turkey, which belong to 
the East generally, and distinguish it from the West. 
One of the most prominent of these is hospitality. In- 
deed, all classes alike, Moslem and Christian, may truly 
be said to be given to hospitality, though every one 
practises it according to his means. No question is asked ; 
distinction of nation or religion, of rich or poor, is not 
thought of. The poorest village, where no khan exists 
for the accommodation of the traveler, has its guest-cham- 




CEMETERY AT MECCA. 



TURKISH KINDNESS TO ANIMALS. 



177 



ber. The Kiahaya, or head man of the village, is there 
bound to entertain strangers at his own table, and to 
furnish them bedding for the night, even though they 
are unable to give a present when they depart, as the 
great majority never do. The only means to prevent 
the abuse of such hospitality, is to enforce the rule that 
no traveler shall stop more than one night, except in 
case of sickness or bad weather. 

The Turkish idea of the rights of hospitality, however, 
materially differs from that of the Arabs : with the latter, 
the eating of bread and salt with them, or the tasting of 
the camel's milk in the great pan, lays them under obli- 
gation to sacrifice their very lives in defending yours. 
Not so with the Turks : for they often discover by the 
conversation of the guest at the village " room " the prob- 
able value of what he is carrying, and the route he pro- 
poses to take, and waylay and rob him the next day ! 
But this hospitality is not practised in largo towns, where 
provision is made for travelers at the public khans. 
There may be something akin to this idea, in the super- 
stition, found, however, among Mohammedans alone, 
which forbids any harm being done to animals or birds 
that seek the companionship of man. Dogs abound in 
the streets, and large sums are spent in feeding them. 
Birds of prey sit upon the roofs, and come down into 
the streets to dispute the offal with the canine race ; the 
inhabitants thus save themselves the trouble of removing 
it to a distance ; even the dead cattle are allowed to 
remain where they drop, until carried off piecemeal by 
these scavengers. A house is highly favored when the 
storks make their nests upon the roof, though they some- 
times drop snakes and other reptiles among its occupants. 
The turtle-doves coo familiarly on the roofs, and walk 
undisturbed in the streets of Turkish towns. Christians 



178 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



do not tolerate such freedom on the part of the brute 
creation. But among the Turks, the idea seems in some 
measure to be applied to vermin itself. There is no 
probability that the treatment of animals by the Turks 
to which we refer, arises from any feeling of kindness on 
their part, as some travelers have represented; for the 
contrary is too evident. Indeed there is perhaps no 
country in the world, in which brutes are treated 
with more wanton cruelty. Beasts of burden are prob- 
ably made to do more hard work, are whipped more 
mercilessly, and are more scantily fed, than anywhere 
else, unless it be among the Tartars of the Don. 

ROUMANIA. 

Moldavia and Wallachia have a common origin, and 
the physical features of the two principalities are very 
similar — both belong to the elevated prairie or steppe 
formation, which rises in wide plateaux, from the banks 
of the Danube, toward the foot-hills of the Carpathians. 
The soil is wonderfully fertile, and were it better and 
more thoroughly cultivated, no region of the earth would 
yield more bountiful returns to the husbandman. Of the 
two, Moldavia is the least hilly; neither of the principali- 
ties are mountainous. Moldavia is almost wholly a broad, 
rich plain, through the center of which flows the beau- 
tiful Sereth river, and on the east, many tributaries of 
the Pruth furnish an abundance of water. The soil is 
so rich that even the most trifling care is rewarded by a 
bountiful harvest. In the northwest of the principality 
there is much varied and picturesque scenery. The gar- 
dens, orchards, and vineyards yield fruits, flowers, and 
vegetables of the choicest quality in great abundance. 
The valleys are covered with waving grain, millet, wheat, 
barley and oats ; and the steep slopes of the valleys are 



CLIMATE A 1ST) MINERALS. 179 



covered with luxuriant vineyards. The wines of Mol- 
davia if properly made would, it is said, fully equal those 
of Tokay. 

Wallachia descends gradually, but from a higher level 
than Moldavia, from the lower slopes of the Carpathians 
toward the Danube. Its higher lands furnish abundant 
pasturage, redolent of aromatic herbs, for great numbers 
of flocks of sheep, and probably in consequence of this 
rich and luscious vegetation, the Wallachian sheep has 
the reputation of being the best food-producing animal 
of the East. Nearer the Danube, an extensive tract 
furnishes abundant pasturage for many thousands of 
cattle. Swine and goats are also reared in great numbers. 

Eoumania abounds in animals of the chase, as well as 
in the smaller quadrupeds, and its game includes all the 
mammals, occurring in other European regions of sim- 
ilar climate, with the possible exception of the ibex and 
beaver. Game birds are very plentiful in its extensive 
forests, especially the cock of the woods, the wild tur- 
key, and, less frequently, the ibis and the pelican. The 
rivers and lakes abound in fish of all the European 
species, but the fisheries are not so profitable as they 
should be. 

The climate varies according to the elevation and posi- 
tion. In the lowlands along the Danube, the tempera- 
ture sometimes rises to 101° Fahrenheit in summer, and, 
in.the more elevated localities, the mercury sinks to — 11° 
in winter. 

The Carpathians, and even the foot-hills which form 
their approaches, are known to contain the precious 
metals and other valuable minerals, but owin^ to the 
frequent occupation of the country by foreign armies, 
neither these, nor other sources of wealth have been de- 
veloped, to any considerable extent. 



180 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



Fruits, and especially the apple, the peach, the grape, 
the lime, the olive, and the pomegranate abound on the 
lower lands. Flax, tobacco and hemp, are, after the 
cereals, its most valued crops. One of the chief indus- 
tries is the rearing of bees, and the honey of Roumania, 
owing to the abundance of lime-trees, with their f ragrant 
blossoms, is of as high repute as that of Hymettus in the 
olden time. 

The inhabitants of Roumania commingle in their 
veins the blood of a half-dozen different races. Dacian 
and Sarmatian, Teuton, Roman and Greek, Magyar, 
Turk and Tartar, have all united in greater or less num- 
bers to form the race now known as Vlachs (from vlach 
a shepherd), Wallachians, or more lately, Roumanians. 

The author of " Frontier Lands," states that at Buch- 
arest, the Jews wear a flowing Oriental costume. " Their 
unmarried women have their heads uncovered, but wives 
and widows wear a handkerchief, generally of a bright 
yellow color, over their jet black hair, or a cap edged 
with fur. They are seldom handsome ; and the promi- 
nent eye, the eagle nose, and heavy lips, are as remarka- 
ble in the streets of Bucharest, on a Saturday morning, 
as they are on the walls of the tomb at Thebes. 

" The people of Moldo-Wallachia, though unhappily 
given over to what seems inveterate sloth, and an inor- 
dinate love of frivolous pleasures, are still a tall, strong, 
and comely race, ' with oblong countenance, black hair, 
thick and well-arched brows, a lively eye, small lips, and 
white teeth.' The Wallachians are more vivacious and 
pleasure-loving than their Moldavian compatriots; 
amidst their indolence and ignorance, however, both 
peoples are sober, frugal, and courageous on occasion. 
It has been remarked that while the Moldo- Wallachians 
of the cities and towns betray a Greek type of physiog- 




WALLACHIAN. 



UNIVERSITIES. 



183 



nomy, those of the rural districts retain marked Roman 
features. 

"The upper classes are excessively and even ludicrously 
haughty. They keep themselves ostentatiously aloof 
from the rest of the community, and are not disposed to be 
hospitable to strangers. The nobility, divided into 
many grades, and numerous, were, under the old order 
of things, the controlling political element, and still re- 
tain no small portion of their formerly unquestioned au- 
thority. The 'boyards/ or old Dacian nobility, have 
become much degenerated by the fashionable and dissi- 
pated life of the city ; but the remains of the old landed 
aristocracy, are still to be found in the rural districts. 
The country boyard is usually athletic and handsome, and, 
retaining as he does the ancient national costume, is a 
very picturesque personage. He wears a black astrakhan 
cap, shaped like a turban, and a large mantle of fur or 
sheep skin, embroidered in gay colors. It is said, that 
the costumes of the upper "Wallachian peasants with their 
sandals, cloaks, and tunics, are very similar to, those worn 
by the Roman peasantry in the days of the Empire. 

" Roumania boasts of two universities, one at each of 
the capitals. That of Bucharest is for general higher 
education, and is similar to the German universities in 
organization and method of teaching. The university 
of Jassy, on the other hand, is especially devoted to in- 
struction in the law, and in literature. There are also in 
the principality eight theological seminaries, in which 
Greek Church priests are bred, but the scholastic char- 
acter and standard of which are by no means high. 
The number of common schools, in the cities and towns, 
is between two and three thousand, and in the country 
districts about two thousand, but the instruction im- 
parted in them, is very meager." 



184 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



SERVIA. 

The Servians are the most purely Sclavonian race in 
Europe. They retain, in a remarkable degree, the phy- 
sical characteristics, the customs, language, and manners 
of their Sarmatian ancestry. Not even the Israelite has 
been more insusceptible to all those influences, whether 
of climate, conquest, civilization, or contact in colonial 
relation with other races, which so powerfully affect most 
peoples, and which in their nearest neighbor, Roumania, 
has produced a new race by the combination of many 
nationalities. The Servians do not appear as a distinct 
branch of the Sclavonic race, until the beginning of the 
seventh century of our era, when at the invitation of the 
Greek Emperor, Heraclius, certain Sclavonic tribes occu- 
pying a region north of the Danube and the Carpathian 
mountains, known as White Serbia, migrated to the 
country south of the Danube, and settled upon the lands 
from which the Avars, a Tartar tribe, had been expelled. 
These Sclavonians, though coming from White Serbia, 
were not all then known as Serbs ; those who migrated 
first were Croats, and they were followed by their kin- 
dred, the Serbians or Servians, but a century or two 
later. 

By the Constitution of Servia the executive power is 
vested in the prince, assisted by a council of five minis- 
ters, who are responsible to the nation. The legislative 
authority is exercised by two independent bodies, the 
Senate and the Skoupschina or House of Representa- 
tives. The Senate consists of 17 members, nominated 
by the prince, one for each of the seventeen departments 
into which the country is divided. This body is always 
sitting. Formerly all vacancies in the Senate were filled 
up by the rest of the members, but for some time past 




ALBANIAN WOMAN. 



CHURCH SERVICE. 



187 



the prince has exercised the power of appointing the 
Senators. The Skoupschina is composed of deputies 
chosen by the people, at the rate of one deputy to every 
2,000 electors. The electors are the male citizens of the 
country above the age of twenty-one years, paying direct 
taxes. Domestic servants and gypsies (of whom there 
are about 25,000) are excluded from suffrage. Every 
elector is eligible to become a member of the Skoupschina, 
except the holders of government offices and the clergy. 
The Skoupschina assembles in annual session. On extra- 
ordinary occasions, such as the election of a new prince 
or the nomination of his successor, a Grand Skoupschina, 
four times as numerous as the ordinary assembly, may be 
summoned by the government. 

Servia has not a large commerce, owing to the want 
of good roads and railroads. The Danube, owing to the 
rapids at the " Iron Gates," is navigated with difficulty 
at some seasons of the year. The trade of the princi- 
pality is almost exclusively with Austria, Turkey, and 
Roumania. Her exports amount to about $5,500,000, 
and are chiefly live pigs, with some cattle. These are 
raised in countless herds, and fed on the acorns which 
abound in the forests. Her imports from Austria and 
Turkey amount to about $4,500,000. The great major- 
ity of the Servians are connected with the Greek Church. 
This Church is, however, a national one, not subject to 
any foreign Patriarch or Metropolitan, but electing its 
own Metropolitan and bishops. It was constituted an 
independent orthodox Greek Church by St. Sava. 

Mr. Denton, an English writer, who visited Servia a few 
years since, in his work entitled " Servia and the Servi- 
ans," thus describes the service in the Cathedral at Bel- 
grade: The whole ceremonial, not only in its broader 
features, but down to its minuter details, appeared to me 
essentially Jewish. It was as though the unvarying East 
had retained so much of the services of the eider church 



188 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



as could be made applicable to Christian worship, and 
had thus restored to them their full and spiritual mean- 
ing. This was so much the case, that as I stood in the 
cathedral at Belgrade, with the myriad lights blazing 
around, and listened to the full choirs chanting anti- 
phonically, while the people answered in responsive 
chorus, using the self-same music which may still be 
heard in the Jewish synagogue; and whilst with the 
voices of the people, clouds of incense, symbolizing the 
prayers of the saints, rose within and without the doors 
of the sanctuary, with its veil of scarlet, covering the 
way to the holy of the holies, — I seemed to be standing 
within that older temple at Jerusalem, and listening to 
the music which, at least from the time of David, has 
been the sacred heritage of God's church. This illusion 
was completed, when I saw before me the tall forms of 
the priests, clothed in flowing Oriental garments, full 
bearded, and with heads as guiltless of the razor as the 
Nazarites of old." 

In the same work we And the following graphic ac- 
count of the administration of the holy sacrament, as it 
is imposingly performed in the Servian church : " The 
richly robed priest, with flowing beard, stood at the 
central or holy door of the iconostasis, the gates of 
which are at this time open, and the curtains with- 
drawn. In his left hand he bore the chalice, in his right 
the spoon ; for with the spoon the sacrament is given, 
the contents of the disc or paten having, after consecra- 
tion, been carefully swept into the chalice. At the pres- 
byter's left hand stood the long-haired ascetic-looking 
deacon, also in beautiful array. About five feet west- 
ward of the priest and deacon, facing them, stood two 
officials of the church, to prevent the danger consequent 
upon the pressure of the crowd. In front of these two 



MONTENEGKO. 



191 



men passed the communicants from south to north, as 
each in turn came up. These communicants were of 
both sexes and all ages. They stood before the chalice- 
bearing priest with reverent, upturned faces, and be- 
neath the mouth of each the deacon held his houselling 
cloth of violet-colored silk, embroidered in the center 
with a cross of gold, whilst into it was placed the holy 
sacrament of love. 

Montenegeo, the Black Mountain, called also in the 
Servian tongue (the language of its inhabitants), Teller- 
nagora, and by the Turks Kara-dagli, is a small princi- 
pality, situated wholly among the spurs of the Black 
Mountain range, having an area of only 1,770 square 
miles, and a population in 1871, of 195,585 inhabitants, 
distributed over 310 mountain hamlets. Cettinge, its 
capital, is one of these villages. It has no sea-port, and in- 
deed no sea-coast; Austria on one side, and Turkey on 
the other, having cut it off completely from all access 
to the sea. Its inhabitants, who are of the Servian 
branch of the Sclavonic family, are a rough, semi-civilized, 
but brave and patriotic people, passionately attached to 
their rocky and barren soil, as Avarlike, and intolerant of 
oppression or foreign rule, as the Araucanians of South 
America, and nearly as barbarous as the Turks, in their 
mode of warfare. The surface of the country presents 
a succession of wild limestone ridges, occasionally diver- 
sified with lofty peaks. Its rugged aspect may be in- 
ferred, from a legend often rehearsed by the people, that 
when " God was distributing stones over the earth, the 
bag that held them burst, and let them all fall upon 
Montenegro?' Though never able to raise more than 
about 20,000 fighting men, this little State has always 
maintained its independence, though for a time obliged 



192 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



to pay a small tribute to Turkey. It has been, for four 
hundred years, in a chronic state of war ; the line of fron- 
tier, between it and Turkey, being a constant subject of 
contention, when there was no other of greater impor- 
tance. The Turks, dashing and brave warriors though 
they are, have never been able to inflict a defeat upon 
the Montenegrins, except when they crushed them by a 
vast preponderance of numbers ; and situated as they are 
in their mountain fastnesses, the boast of the Montenegrins 
is hardly an exaggeration, when they say that " one 
Montenegrin is equal to ten Turks." There have hardly 
been five consecutive years of j3eace, during the last 
two or three centuries; and during these almost con- 
stant conflicts, there has been no atrocity wanting, on 
either side, which fiendish human ingenuity could devise. 
It had long been the custom of the Montenegrins to cut 
off the heads of their Turkish foes, and bring them home 
as trophies, and they did not always wait till they were 
dead, before beheading them. Of late this practice has 
been partially discontinued, but they still slice off the 
ears and noses of their foes. Yet they can hardly be 
blamed for these acts, since, for four hundred years past, 
and even to the present hour, the Turks have been in 
the habit of not only cutting off the heads of Montene- 
grins, whom they succeeded in capturing, but of impaling 
their prisoners alive, and cutting off their hands and feet 
before beheading them. In one respect, the Montenegrin 
is far above the Turk in civilization and honor; even in 
their wildest raids, no Montenegrin soldier or brigand 
was ever guilty of any disrespect to a woman, or any 
outrage upon a child ; while in Montenegro, as every- 
where else, the Turk has been notorious for the most 
atrocious barbarities, to both women and children. For the 
rest, the Montenegrins are industrious, patient of labor and 



THE CODE OX EQUALITY AND INSULTS. 195 



fatigue, hospitable in the extreme, frank, open-hearted and 
generous, and even in their poverty, ready to share all 
they have with a stranger. 

BOSNIA AND THE HERZEGOVINA. 

The history of Bosnia and the Herzegovina, though 
connected at many points, by identity of race, patriotic 
sympathy, and partial religious affiliation, with that of 
Servia. has yet many differences of great importance and 
of deep interest. The inhabitants of both Bosnia and 
the Little Duchy — which is the translation of the name 
Herzegovina — were among the families of the tribe of 
Sclavonians. known as Serbs and Croats, who early in 
the fifth century of our era accepted the invitation of 
the Greek Emperor, and migrated from Galicia and 
other regions north of the Danube to the country south 
of the Danube, driving back to the Crimea and to Asia, 
the Avars. Huns, and other Tartar tribes which had 
swooped down on these fair lands. 

Both Bosnia and Herzegovina abound in mountains ; 
the latter seeming indeed, at first sight, to resemble 
nothing so much as our vague ideas of the chaos which 
preceded the Mosaic creation. Such a jumble of hills, 
mountains, peaks, ravines, and mountain torrents, can 
hardly be found elsewhere on the globe. Still these 
hill-slopes, ravines, and narrow valleys are, many of them, 
very fertile, and the abundant mineral wealth of the 
mountains is not surpassed in Europe, and only equalled 
in the Ural range. The capital of Bosnia — Serajevo — - 
called in Serb, Bosna-Serai, & e., the Bosnian fortress, is 
a city of nearly 60,000 inhabitants, situated on a plain 
1,800 feet above the sea, at the foot of a mountain range 
which culminates in the peak of Trebovic. It has some 



196 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



fine buildings, but is specially remarkable for its hun- 
dred minarets, its magnificent gardens, which have given 
it the name of the Damascus of the North, and for being 
the chosen residence of the great Bosnian lords, the 
proudest, and perhaps the most ungentle, autocrats in 
all the East. 

Bosnia and the Herzegovina had together a popula- 
tion of 1,216,846 in 1874, of whom 576,756 were Chris- 
tians of the Greek Church; 185,503 Roman Catholics ; 
442,050 Bosnian (or Sclavonic) Mussulmans ; a number 
not defined, Protestants, principally Bogomiles ; 3,000 
Jews, and from 5,000 to 8,000 gipsies. There are no 
accurate data for determining what proportion of these 
belong to the Herzegovina, but from the two provinces, 
nearly 100,000 refugees, including the women and children, 
fled in consequence of the insurrection of 1875-'6, and 
most of them are now on Austrian territory, in the prov- 
ince of Sclavonia, and have suffered terribly from hunger, 
and the lack of all the comforts of life. Two wealthy 
and benevolent English ladies, Miss Irby and Miss John- 
ston, have ministered to their necessities, and have pro- 
cured considerable aid for them from England. 

Mostar, the capital of the Herzegovina, is a beautiful 
town of great antiquity, dating back certainly to the 
Roman occupation of Iliyria, in the first century after 
the Christian era. Its churches and mosques with their 
slender but beautiful minarets, give it an elegant appear- 
ance, which is not diss'rpated, as is the case in most 
oriental towns, by a nearer approach. The Romans had 
made this one of their permanent camps, and have left 
many traces of their architecture and civilization here. 
The most interesting of these, and that to which Mostar, 
even at the present clay, owes much of its importance, is 
the magnificent bridge over the Narenta. It is a single 




MOSTAR BRIDGE. 



THE MOSTAE BRIDGE. 



199 



arch, 95 feet 3 inches in span (according to Sir Gardiner 
Wilkinson's measurement), and rises 70 feet above the 
river when the water is low. 

According to tradition, this was the work of the 
Emperor Trajan, whose engineering triumphs in Eastern 
Europe have taken a strong hold on the South Sclavonic 
imagination. Others refer its erection to Hadrian, and 
the Turks, not wishing to leave the credit of such an 
architectural masterpiece to infidel emperors, claim the 
whole for their Sultan, Soliman the Magnificent. He 
and other Turkish rulers have certainly greatly restored 
and altered the work, insomuch that Sir Gardiner Wil- 
kinson declares, that none of the original Roman masonry 
has been left on the exterior, but he was none the less 
convinced of its Roman origin ; and any one who has 
seen it will agree with Sir Gardiner, that the grandeur 
of the work and the form of the arch, as well as the tra- 
dition, attest its Roman origin. 

The illustration of this bridge and its surroundings 
which we give, was drawn by Mr. Arthur J. Evans from 
the hillside near the bridge. It is worthy of notice that 
the name Mostar means in Servian, the old bridge, and 
this name pertained to the bridge and town at least two 
hundred years before the birth of Soliman. The town 
has now about 18,000 inhabitants. 

The other view, that of Coinica, represents the fa- 
mous town where Stephen Thomas granted to his 
boyars privileges, somewhat akin to those of Magna 
Chart a. 

The solution of the complex questions which have 
involved Eastern Europe in war, is greatly complicated 
by the position of Bosnia and the Herzegovina. The 
presence and influence of so large a body of Sclavonic 
Mahometans, may well serve to assure those who think 



200 



THE CONQUEST OF TTJEKEY. 



they Lave found a panacea for all these evils, in the expul- 
sion of the Turk from Europe, that if he were to go at 
their behest, he would leave behind him (including a 
considerable number of Albanian Mahometans) a body 
of more than half a million of the most fanatical follow- 
ers of Islam in the world. And though they might be 
in a minority, their zeal and fanaticism would largely 
make up for their inferior numbers. It is plain, that 
there can be no solution of the question which does not 
take these Bosniac Mussulmans into the account, and 
provide for their welfare, where they will not be able 
to work harm to others. Many of them are among the 
wealthiest and most influential of the Bosnian nobility, 
the descendants of those Bosnian youth who were 
trained as Janissaries. 



CHAPTER VL 



BULGARIA, THE BULGARIAN CHURCH AND ATROCITIES. 

The Bulgarians are Sclavonians only in language and 
religion. Their language has in it some Finnish or 
Magyar, and some Turkish, elements, and is very far from 
being as pure Sclavic as the Servian or Bosnian speech. 
As a matter of fact, the Bulgarians are a conglomerate 
race, in which the Finnish or Ugrian stock is the basis, and 
Sciavonian, Turkish, and Magyar, and Greek, have com- 
mingled with it in varying proportions. Yet it is remark- 
able that they possess stronger instincts of nationality, 
and a more fervent attachment to their country and their 
institutions, than is manifested even by nations, so entirely 
homogeneous, as the Servians and Montenegrins. 

The Bulgarians, it is now generally conceded by eth- 
nologists, were a Finnish tribe, who migrated from the 
region of the Altai mountains, probably as early as the 
beginning of the Christian era, and settled on the banks 
of the river Volga, or between that river and the Tanais 
or Don, building a city called Bolgaris, from which they 
had their name, and where they remained till a. d. 559, 
when they fled from the Avars, a Tartar race who came in 
great numbers from Asia. They continued their flight 
till they reached the Danube, which was frozen over, it 
being mid-winter, and then crossed into Thrace. Here 
they found the Sclavonians who had recently come from 
Galicia and other parts north of the Danube, and an older 

201 



202 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



race, the Thracians, who were also probably Sclavonic. 
Mixing with these two races, and probably crowding 
them somewhat to the west, these Bulgarian Finns finally 
became so far commingled with the true Sclavonians, that 
they spoke their language, adopted most of their habits, 
and finally accepted their faith. 

The Bulgarian, however, especially south of the Balkan 
(for north of these mountains he has become so thoroughly 
identified with the Servians and other Sclavonians, that 
he may fairly be reckoned a Sclavonian), retains the Fin- 
nish features, complexion, language and ways, to such an 
extent, that he is no more to be mistaken for a Sclave, than 
the Iberian Celt is for a Saxon. 

But they grew in numbers and power till they occupied 
and ruled, in fact if not in name, the greater part of the 
present Turkey in Europe, though they never succeeded 
in taking Constantinople. For three centuries or more, 
their newly adopted country was one vast battlefield, on 
which Hungarians, Romans, Venetians, Genoese, Tartars, 
Normans, Germans, and Turks were constantly engaged in 
warfare, and the Bulgarians who had at first established 
their capital at the beautiful town of Lychnidus, the 
modern Ochrida, in the Albanian mountains, eventually 
were crowded to and over the Balkans, and compelled to 
make their capital at Tirnova, not far south of the 
Danube. 

In the ninth century a Christian monk named Me- 
thodius, who had studied at one of the convents of Con- 
stantinople, and who was also a painter of no mean 
ability, was invited by the king of the Bulgarians, Bo- 
garis, to his court, and was shown the battle pictures 
with which that king, himself an art connoisseur, had 
filled his galleries. The king asked the young monk if 
he could paint anything more terrible than he saw there. 



THE BULGARIAN CHURCH. 



203 



Methodius replied that he could, and at once received 
an order to commence his picture. He chose for his 
subject "The Last Judgment," and when it was com- 
pleted, he exhibited it to the king and preached to him, 
at the same time, a sermon on righteousness, temperance, 
and a judgment to come. The king, Avho had previously 
been a pagan, — listened, trembled, believed, and re- 
quested baptism — and before the close of the year 853, 
through the zealous labors of Methodius and his brother 
Cyrillus, the whole Bulgarian nation was, at least nom- 
inally, converted to Christianity. They continued their 
labors among the other Sclavonians, invented the 
Sclavonic alphabet, and translated the Scriptures into 
the Sclavonian language. 

With this conversion of the Bulgarians, began the 
history of the Bulgarian Church, which for a thousand 
years has exercised an important influence over the 
lives, social and political condition, and history of the 
Bulgarian people. This Church, though admitting the 
doctrine, discipline, and most of the usages of the Greek 
Church, was strictly independent, and under primates of 
its own ; and though it was claimed, by turns, by the 
Eastern and Western Church, it only recognized their 
political authority, and even that only on special oc- 
casions. It retained this independency until after the 
overthrow of the Bulgarian kingdom, and its conquest 
by the Turks. During the five or six centuries which 
intervened between the conversion of the nation, and 
their subjugation by the Turks, education flourished, 
and the nation became again one of the leading powers 
of Europe. Among the sons of nobles, who were at 
this time educated at Constantinople, was a young monk 
of royal descent, named Simeon. He was ambitious and 
warlike, and aspired rather to an earthly than to the 



204 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



heavenly crown. And so it came to pass, that in a. r> a 
888, the monk Simeon became king of Bulgaria, and 
immediately began to establish his power, by attacks 
upon the Greeks, who had maltreated Bulgarian mer- 
chants at Thessalonica. He was uniformly successful in 
wars with the Greeks. He ravaged the whole of Mace- 
donia, and then advanced to the siege of Constantinople, 
and imposed conditions of peace upon the terrified Em- 
peror. Next, he turned his arms northward and north- 
westward, and Bosnia and Servia fell under his sway. 
As the Czar or Emperor Simeon, his sway extended 
from the Black Sea to the Adriatic, and from the Danube 
to the Sea of Marmora. He died in a. d. 928, after a 
prosperous reign of forty years, leaving Bulgaria one of 
the leading nations of Europe, and in art, science, and 
religious influence, inferior to none. A system of tele- 
graphy, invented by Leo, Bulgarian Archbishop of 
Salonica, the signals of which were a succession of 
fires at certain hours, which were indicated upon the 
dials of two clocks, one at Constantinople, the other at 
Tarsus, was one of the most remarkable scientific in- 
ventions of his rei^n. This was one of the forerun- 
ners of the electric telegraph which seems to have es- 
caped notice. 

The successors of Simeon were long engaged in war 
with the Emperor, and were not all so successful as 
the great Czar. Of one of them, King Samuel, it is 
said that he was defeated at the battle of Tetunium, by 
the Emperor Basil II., who captured 15,000 prisoners 
and put out the eyes of all, except one in a hundred, 
who was spared in order to conduct the blind men back 
to their own country. This so distressed King Samuel, 
that he fainted, fell unconscious, and died two days later. 

The Bulgarians met with varied, but generally adverse 



THE BATTLE OF NICOPOLIS. 



205 



fortune, during the four hundred and fifty years which 
followed the Emperor Simeon's death. The Greek 
emperors made war upon them so long as they had the 
power to do so. Servian, Croat, and Magyar, each in 
turn, reduced portions of Bulgaria under their sway, and 
toward the last part of this period, the approach of the 
Turks, and their seizure of Adrian ople, of Salonica, and 
Philippopolis ; their progress over the Balkans; and 
their almost constant successes over Bulgarian princes, 
indicated what the end would be. Under the Serbian 
Czar, Stephen Dushan, and later, when the last Czar of 
Servia, the brave Lazar, called for all the Sclavonic 
race to come to his aid on the bloody field of Kossovo, 
the remnant of the Bulgarians, patriotic as ever, but 
depressed by their lack of success, rallied under the Ser- 
bian and Bosnian banners, and struck brave blows for 
liberty. The fight was not to be successful. The ban- 
ners of Servia went down in blood. Bosnia survived 
for a time, and Bulgaria had seven years of prolonged 
wretchedness; but at the battle of jNFicopolis, a. d. 1396, 
Bulgaria and her great allies, Hungary and France, saw 
the fiower of their chivalry go down before Bajazet's 
reckless cavalry, led by Bayazid, and all hope of freedom 
for the Bulgarians passed away. There, as in Bosnia, 
the choicest of their youth were taken away to be 
brought up as Janissaries, and the remainder tortured, 
plundered, and oppressed, were to be regarded as Turk- 
ish subjects. Ample promises were made to those who 
would prove renegades to their faith, and become Mus- 
sulmans ; but very few accepted the offer made to them, 
and those few found to their sorrow, that Turkish prom- 
ises were made but to be broken. Later, a considerable 
number of the Bulgarian nobles, some of them probably 
belonging to the sect of Bogomiles, (for that sect had, at 



206 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



least, one bishop in Bulgaria,) preferring, like their 
eo-religionists of Bosnia, the arbitrary rule of the Turk 
to the tender mercies of the Pope or Patriarch, did 
become Mahometans. The youth, who had been brought 
up as Janissaries, returned afterward as Mahometans, 
and in Bulgaria, as in Bosnia, we find the anomaly of 
a Sclavonic or semi-Sclavonic race professing Mahometan- 
ism ; but in Bulgaria the proportion of Sclavonic Mussul- 
mans is not more than one-fourth, probably, of the Chris- 
tians, and perhaps not so large a proportion as that. 

But the Bulgarian Church has had a hard struggle, 
especially for the past hundred years, and it is to the 
treatment of that church, by the Greek Patriarch of Con- 
stantinople, sustained as he has been by the Sultan, that 
most of the not infrequent revolutions and insurrec- 
tions in Bulgaria, have been due. The policy pursued 
by the Turks toward Bulgaria and Bosnia, though a 
shrewd one on their part, was not adopted in the case 
of the Greeks. 'No effort was made to convert the youth 
of the Greek provinces to Mahometanism, by placing 
them in the ranks of the Janissaries, nor were any 
special inducements offered to the nobles or leading men 
of the Greeks, to abandon their faith and become Mus- 
sulmans. Various reasons have been assigned by their 
enemies for this departure from their ordinary methods, 
on the part of the Turks ; one has been, that from the well- 
known shrewdness and craftiness of the Greeks, the 
Osmanli feared, that if they became converts in any con- 
siderable numbers, they would gain the ascendancy over 
their conquerors, and thus destroy the Osmanli power. 
Another, and more probable one was, that knowing 
the willingness of the Greeks to do anything, however 
disgraceful, which would bring them money and power, 
the Turks preferred to leave them nominally Christians, 



DEMANDS OF THE GREEK PATRIARCH. 



207 



and through them rule and control the other nationali- 
ties, who had manifested more conscientiousness and 
stubborn resistance to the Ottoman control. Certain it 
is, that the so-called Fanariot* Greeks have shown an 
alacrity in plunging, at the bidding of their masters, into 
the lowest depths of infamy, which fully justified the 
scornful declaration of one of the " Old Turkish " officers 
of the Porte some years ago : " Of all the Giaours, the 
Greeks are most completely the children of Gehenna." 

From the day of the conquest of Bulgaria and Bosnia, 
the Patriarchs of the Greek Church in Constantinople 
have constantly demanded, that the Orthodox Greek 
Church in those countries should be put under their con- 
trol ; that they should have the right, without consult- 
ing the people at all, to send them bishops and priests, 
such as they chose, and to plunder the peojole as much 
as they wished. They enforced these demands by sev- 
eral very plausible arguments, such as these : that the 
Bulgarians beino; Greek in faith, ought to be under the 
Greek Patriarch in Constantinople; that the Sultan, being 
a Mussulman, could not readily understand what were 
the needs of these Christians, w T hile the Patriarch could 
understand them perfectly, and being responsible to the 
Sultan for their good' behavior, would be able to save 
the Sultan a great deal of trouble and perplexity. 

It should be said to the credit of the Ottoman Porte, 
that it refused for a very long time to yield to these 
demands of the greedy Fanariot Greeks, whose motives 
it doubtless suspected. But the Greeks were not to be 
balked of their game. They began to give out very 
secretly, yet in such a way as to reach the ears of the 
Sultan, that the Bulgarians were rebellious, that a con- 
spiracy was forming among them against the Porte, and 

* From Phanar or Fanar, the Greek quarter of Constantinople. 



208 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



that the Sultan was in danger. Every kind of intrigue 
was attempted to give color to the suspicion, and the 
Porte commenced very strenuous measures of persecu- 
tion of the Bulgarians. Having thus roused the jealousy 
of the Porte, the Greeks were in their element, and, after 
numberless schemes had been tried, they succeeded in 
1767 in bribing Orsenius, the last Bulgarian Primate 
and Patriarch of Ochrida, to abdicate his primacy, retain- 
ing, however, his richest archbishopric or Eparchy. 
His abdication was a singular one. The following is the 
text: 

" With this present voluntary resignation, I, subjoined, 
make known that because it is impossible for me to ful- 
fill the duties and obligations of the patriarchate of 
Ochrida, inasmuch as we have been the means of bring- 
ing into contempt the name of patriarch, thereby bringing 
upon them (Christians), persecutions and heavy losses, and 
similar troubles upon the Christian subjects ; and since 
in no way but by the abolition of the patriarchate can the 
flock of Christ be delivered from their taunts, therefore I 
give in my resignation, and free dismission from the seat 
of Ochrida ; retaining, however, my former Eparchia of 
Pelagonia (Monastir), which I retain for myself during 
life, as a means of living and for my expenses. Signed, 

"January, 1767. Orsenius Dolis." 

This transaction was so evidently venal, that the Bul- 
garian people, and the great body of the clergy, refused 
to recognize the act of abdication, or to be bound by it ; 
but they soon found that the Ottoman Porte had yielded 
to the persuasions and demands of the Fanariot Greeks, 
and that resistance was in vain, and though protest 
might in the end prove of some service, at present they 



TYRANNY OF THE GREEK CHURCH. 



must yield. Their bishops were thrust from their sees, 
their priests ejected from their churches, and the places 
of both rilled with greedy and disreputable Greeks. 
The service was conducted in modern Greek, which the 
Bulgarians generally did not understand ; their monaster- 
ies and schools were seized, and the revenues appropriated 
by the Greek communities, and the Bulgarian language 
and literature was prohibited in all the educational 
institutions, and Greek put in its place. To resist this 
cruel wrong, was to provoke the strong arm of the mili- 
tary power to suppress rebellion, and to make true the 
slanders of their Greek foes. A nation loosely aggrega- 
ted, and without the cohesive power of a marked and 
distinctive national character, would, under such circum- 
stances, have dashed itself to pieces in its restlessness 
under such a bondage ; but the Bulgarians proved them- 
selves fit to be a nation, by their admirable conduct 
under these trying circumstances. They patiently and 
persistently retained their nationality ; refused to be 
swamped by the influx of modern Greeks, and by a pas- 
sive resistance constantly maintained, and action when- 
ever the pressure was even partially and temporarily 
lifted, succeeded in so controlling their people, that they 
were ready for religious freedom, when the moment came 
for it. 

Meantime the Greek patriarch, in Bulgaria as in Bos- 
nia, was selling the sacred offices to the highest bidder, 
and putting such depraved wretches into them, men who 
would extort the last piaster from the husbandman's 
widow, or take the bread from the mouths of his orphan 
children, that the people had become thoroughly dis- 
gusted. They still preserved, however, the forms of law; 
they appealed to the Greek patriarch against the abuses of 
his bishop and clergy, and were only answered with male- 



210 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



diction and severe rebuke. They next appealed to the 
Porte, which in turn, consulted the Greek patriarch, and 
a persecution commenced. Then the wealthy and noble 
'class of Bulgarians, which in this alone of all the Sclavic 
States manifested its sympathy with the poor, com- 
menced, very quietly, measures for the establishment of 
schools and churches in which the Bulgarian vernacular 
and the Bulgarian literature and ritual should be intro- 
duced and taught. 

They procured from abroad the printing of Bulgarian 
text-books, and landed them in Bulgaria before the 
Greeks suspected what they were doing. On hearing 
that Bulgarian bibles and other books were actually cir- 
culating in the country, the Greek patriarch hastened to 
the Porte and obtained an order for their confiscation, 
artfully representing that these works, being in the 
Sclavic language, were proofs of the sympathy of the 
Bulgarians for Russia, and that their circulation was but 
the first act of rebellion. But before the order of con- 
fiscation could reach them, most of the books had been 
distributed, and the effort on the part of the Greeks to 
prevent the people from educating their children in their 
own much-loved tongue, raised such a spirit of indigna- 
tion among the whole people, that the leaders stepped 
boldly forward, and demanded as their right, to be 
allowed to educate their children in the vernacular. 
Subscriptions were raised in all the district towns, and 
teachers were at first imported from Russia and Austria. 
The movement was denounced by the Greek patriarch, 
and every device and intrigue he could command was 
used to crush it; but the funds which had been raised, 
removed the opposition of the Ottoman authorities, and 
permission was obtained to establish schools, distinct 
from those of the Greeks, in Philippopolis, and some of the 



BIBLES AND SCHOOL-BOOKS IN BULGAKIA. 211 



other district towns in 1850. From this time dates the 
revival of popular education among the Bulgarians. 
After the Crimean war it spread with amazing rapidity, 
and the national development went on with great energy. 
From 90,000 to 100,000 children of Christian Bulgarians 
were gathered into these vernacular schools, at the 
beginning of 1876. Teachers were provided from the 
local training schools, and the schools established by 
American missionaries. 

Up to the year 1860, the school funds were derived 
from voluntary subscriptions, and from funds bequeathed 
by charitable persons ; but this proving, for various 
reasons, unsatisfactory, the Bulgarians now ventured 
upon an important change ; those of the Sandjak or dis- 
trict of Philippopolis, as usual, leading the way. They 
renounced their allegiance to the supremacy of the 
Greek patriarch at Constantinople, and followed up this 
bold step, by appropriating the ecclesiastical domains, 
tenements, and revenues of the diocese, and immediately 
employed a part of these funds for educational purposes. 
Other districts followed the lead, and the whole was 
done under an excellent and orderly organization, con- 
sisting of clerical and lay members, elected annually. 
These commissions were made responsible to the com- 
munity at large, for their honest distribution of these 
funds, for the supervision and promotion of public 
instruction. By the most careful and skillful manage- 
ment, the passive sanction of the Porte was gained for 
all these changes, notwithstanding the bitter opposition 
of the Greeks. The aid afforded by Lord Stratford de 
Hedcliffe, by the earnest labors of the American mis- 
sionaries in Bulgaria, and by the Robert College at Con- 
stantinople, were of great service in bringing about 
these gratifying results. 



212 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Other schools have been attempted by the Jesuits 
by some of the continental missionary societies, and by 
a sect known in Bulgaria as Paulicians, who seem to be 
the lineal descendants of our old friends, the Bogomiles. 

Matters were now ripe for another step, the revival of 
the Bulgarian National Church. This was effected in 
1870, about one hundred years after it was over- 
thrown by the intrigues of the Greek Patriarch at Con- 
stantinople. Step by step, the difficulties in the way of 
a consummation so much to be desired were removed, 
and the firman of the Sultan commanding the reorganiza- 
tion was issued on the 20th of February, 1870, and fol- 
lowed by a general letter from the Holy Bulgarian 
Synod, congratulating the people on this change, on the 
3d of March following, and soon after by a spiritual cir- 
cular letter from the same source. * The Bulgarian 
Church is far from being a pure one, but it has learned 
much in its century of persecution, and at least has the 
advantage of promoting education in the vernacular 
tongue, of circulating the Scriptures in that tongue, and 
conducting its services in it, and its clergy are men of 
purer lives, and of less extortionate habits, than the Fana- 
riot Greeks who preceded them. 

There can be no question that for many years past 
ambitious Russian adventurers, in many instances not 
without some sanction, expressed or implied, from the 
Rusian government itself, have been engaged at frequent 
intervals, in endeavoring to stir up insurrection in Bul- 
garia. At times, their eiforts have been regarded with 
distrust, for Bulgaria had learned by some bitter expe- 
riences in the past, that the Russian eagle was as truly a 
bird of prey — selfish, greedy, and destructive — as the 



* Col. Baker gives the text of these three documents in his recent work on 
Turkey. 



MIDHAT PASHA. 



213 



Turkish vulture. In 1828-9 she had some severe lessons 
of this sort. The Bulgarian educational movement did 
not meet the approval of Russia ; it bid fair to put the 
Bulgarian Sclavonians out of her reach. In 1867, the 
Pan-Sclavonic committee of Moscow, and its very efficient 
branch, the secret committee at Bucharest, acting cer- 
tainly without opposition from the Russian government, 
undertook to excite an insurrection amon^ the Butea- 
rians, in connection with the Croatian insurrection. One 
object of this insurrection was to obtain plunder, a large 
part of the foreigners engaged in it, being Russian and 
Roumanian adventurers and ruffians ; another was to ex- 
cite the alarm of Turkey, and weaken her force in Crete ; 
and a third, to break down the movement for the reha- 
bilitation of the National Bulgarian Church. The at- 
tempts of the insurgents proved a complete failure. The 
great body of the Bulgarians, having other objects in 
view, looked upon the whole movement with distrust, 
and they turned against the adventurers and hunted 
them down. Midhat Pasha, then Vali or Governor 
of the Danubian frontier of Bulgaria, made short work 
with the insurgents, who were too much frightened to 
stay in the province. 

In 1876, there was, as we shall see from Mr. Schuyler's 
narrative, as well as from the statements of those who 
were on the spot, a very different state of things. There 
had been in the last years of Abd-ul Aziz's reign, a con- 
stantly increasing tide of oppression and corruption ; the 
Bulgarian rayah, like his brother in Bosnia, was ground 
down to the dust by the tax-farmers ; an eighth always, 
oftener a sixth or a third of his entire crop was taken 
by these rapacious thieves, and no portion could be har- 
vested till the tax-farmer's interests were secured. But 
worse than this, was the quartering of Turkish troops 



214 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



upon the rayahs and land-holders, and the outrages against 
female virtue which had become the rule rather than the 
exception. There were also other evils, which had been 
growing for years, till they had come to be past endur- 
ance. 

Previous to May, 1876, although the insurrection in 
Bosnia and Herzegovina already described, the gener- 
ally restless feeling in Montenegro, Servia, and Eoumania, 
independent and tributary States, had intensified the ex- 
citement in resrard to the farming of the taxes, and other 
measures of oppression in Bulgaria, and to some extent, 
in the adjacent provinces, there had been little in the 
conduct of the Turkish government to call for active 
remonstrance on the part of the other powers of Europe. 
The administration of government was tyrannous and 
oppressive, but so it had been for many years ; the sys- 
tem of collecting the taxes was the worst known, but 
it was thoroughly Oriental, and the people submitted to 
it, not without grumbling, indeed, but as an evil which 
it was better to bear than to resist. 

There were strong indications that some secret societies 
of Russian origin, but having their headquarters at Bu- 
charest and Belgrade, and certainly not discountenanced 
by the Russian government, were operating upon the 
younger citizens of Bosnia, Bulgaria, Herzegovina, and 
to some extent upon Albania, to rouse them to resistance 
to the tax-gatherers ; but these efforts had been made be- 
fore, and with no serious result. 

When the ambassadors of Austria-Hungary, Germany, 
Italy, Russia, and subsequently Great Britain, joined on 
the 31st of January, 1876, in presenting to the Ottoman 
government Count Andrassy's (Premier of Austria-Hun- 
gary) note relative to reforms in the administration of 



BULGARIAN HORRORS. 



215 



the Turkish empire, it was not so much that the evils 
of which they complained had attained an unusual 
magnitude, as that, under existing circumstances, the 
Porte might "be more amenable to the influences which 
would lead to some improvement in its administration. 
This note was courteously received, and, as usual, "the 
Sublime Porte " made abundant promises of establishing 
all hinds of reforms — promises, which it is hardly neces- 
sary to say it had little power, and probably no inten- 
tion, to fulfill. 

But while these promises might have pacified the de- 
mands of the powers, there were new complications in 
progress which were destined to shake the Turkish empire 
from its topmost stone to its foundations, and to produce 
the most intense excitement over the whole of Europe. 
Even the mild note of Count Andrassy had roused the 
hostility of the fanatical Turks of Constantinople, and of 
some of the provinces where the Mahometans were the 
ruling party, and they were beginning to threaten the 
Sultan and the Porte, and to demand that the old prac- 
tices of the Osmanlis should be revived, and the giaours 
[infidels] and Christian dogs should no longer be allowed 
any influence or authority in the government. The Sof- 
tas, a class of turbulent and fanatical Mussulmans in the 
capital, raised the religious cry, and invoked death and 
destruction on the Christians. 

While the weak and half-imbecile Abd-ul Aziz was 
trembling at their outcries, and fearing the loss of his 
crown, which was so soon to befall him, the Bulgarians, 
the larger portion of whom were nominally Christian, 
and whose progress in intelligence, education, and pros- 
perity had been the wonder and envy of all the other 
provinces of Turkey, for more than ten years, were begin- 
ning to feel the impulse of the insurrection in Bosnia, 



216 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



and, prompted by the unwise counsels of the revolu- 
tionary committee in Bucharest, they began, in several 
villages, to rise against the tax-gatherers, and arm them- 
selves for a struggle to throw off the yoke of the oppressor. 
They sent their demands, which were not extravagant, to 
the Sultan ; but obtaining no redress, they began to arrest 
the tax-gatherers, who resisted, and in a few instances 
were slain in the armed conflict. 

The insurrection was not formidable, and could easily 
have been put down by two or three battalions of sol- 
diers at the utmost ; but the Turkish ministers, by way 
of showing their zeal, commissioned a Turkish officer, 
well known for his cruelty and brutality, to take a large 
force of Bashi-bazouks, the irregular troops of whom we 
have elsewhere spoken (see page 432), and notoriously 
the vilest and most depraved ruffians to be found 
in Turkey, to go to the Bulgarian villages and put 
down the insurrection. With what horrible outrages 
of murder, lust, and rapine they accomplished their 
demoniacal work, let the report of Mr. Eugene Schuyler, 
American Secretary of Legation at Constantinople, who 
visited the ruined villages in July and August, 1876, 
tell us. We subjoin copious extracts from Mr. Schuyler's 
report, as the most authentic source of information on this 
subject: 

Legation of the United States of America, 

Constantinople, November 20, 1876. 

Sir: — Leaving Constantinople on the 23d day of July, I 
remained one day at Adrianople, and then proceeded immedi- 
ately to Philippopolis, the center of the disturbed district in 
Bulgaria. After visiting many of the villages in the district of 
Philippopolis and of Tatar Bazardjik, I went to the districts of 
Yamboli and Slivno, then, crossing the Balkans, I visited the 
districts of Tirnovo, Gabrovo, and Selvi, and returned to Adria- 



me. schuyler's visit. 



217 



nople by the way of Shipka, Kazanlyk, Eski-Zagra, and Tcliirpan, 
arriving at Constantinople on the 29th of August. 

In going from village to village I always had an escort of two 
Zaptiehs,* that being the smallest number which the authorities 
would allow me to take. They usually offered me six or ten, and 
would not permit me to travel without Zaptiehs, on the ground 
that they were responsible for my safety, as well as that polite- 
ness compelled them to escort me. The Zaptiehs were useful for 
showing the road, but they were of slight value for purposes of 
protection, as they would probably have run away at the first 
approach of danger. 

While paying all proper respect to the authorities, and being 
careful to fulfill the necessary formalities of visits, I avoided 
staying in Turkish houses, as I would thus have been prevented 
from having: free access to the Bulgarians. I also refused to 
allow a guard to be placed at the houses where I staid. 

I had as an interpreter an educated young Bulgarian, Mr. 
Peter DimitrofF, who, besides his own language, understood 
English and Turkish perfectly. I knew sufficient Bulgarian to 
be able to follow the conversations and to be able to control what 
he translated to me. Besides this I had, for the most of my 
journey, one and sometimes two, other persons who thoroughly 
understood Turkish and Greek — one an Armenian, the other a 
Greek. 

There were frequently great difficulties in obtaining exact 
information, arising partly from the action of the authorities, 
partly from timidity of the Bulgarians, and partly from the nature 
of the facts into which I was inquiring. I have had recourse to 
official documents, to statements made by Turks, officials as well 
as non-officials; by Greeks, who are usually somewhat prejudiced 
against the Bulgarians; by Armenians and Jews, the most disin- 
terested of all ; by Bulgarian Catholics and orthodox Bulgarians 
of all classes, as also to information given to me by foreigners. 
Naturally much of what I shall state rests on the authority of 
Bulgarians, who were often the only persons able or willing to 
tell what had happened. I have endeavored by strict question- 
ing, cross-examination, and comparison of statements to arrive as 

* Zaptiehs, policemen. 



218 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



near as possible at the exact truth, but I am sensible that at 
times subsequent information may show some inaccuracies. As 
a general rule I have thought it needless to give the processes 
by which I have arrived at my facts; and as I set out with 
no intentions either of proving or of disproving any assertions 
or statement, I shall relate merely what I believe to have oc- 
curred. 

PREVIOUS MOVEMENTS AND DISAFFECTION EST BULGARIA. 

The condition of the Christian subjects in Turkey so appealed 
to the sentiments and the ideas of justice of the great powers dur- 
ing the Crimean war, that in 1856 the Sultan Abdul Medjid was 
induced solemnly to confirm the privileges and the reforms which 
he and his predecessors had granted, but which had never been 
carried out, and to grant some new ones by the Hatti Humayouin* 
of that year, reference to which was made in the treaty of Paris. 
The delays, however, in carrying out the reforms granted and 
confirmed by the decree, the unequal taxes and the irregularities 
in collecting them, the continued refusal to accept Christian 
evidence when offered against Mussulmans in civil courts, the 
maintenance of the Christian in an illegally inferior position to 
that of the Mussulmans, the constant vexations and exactions of 
government officials, and the almost daily acts of murder and 
violence committed by the Mussulman population, excited the 
feelings of the Bulgarians to such an extent that in 1862 they 
revolted against the authority of the Porte. This rebellion was a 
very feeble one, and was speedily put down. Another broke out in 
1867, in the province of the Danube, which was at once suppressed 
by the energetic action of Midhat Pasha, then the vali f of that 
province. Nine or ten of the rebels were executed and fifty-four 
were sentenced to transportation to Diarbekir, or to imprisonment 
with hard labor. Many young men, fearing to be compromised by 
the revelations extorted by torture, took refuge in Bucharest, and, 
not disheartened by the failure of that attempt, continued in 
active co-operation with the Servians in preparations for a new 

* Hatti Humayoum, an imperial decree granting certain reforms, 
f Vali, the governor or chief ruler of a province. 



PEEVIOUS BULGAEIAN INSUERECTIONS. 219 



rebellion. The assassination of Prince Michael, of Servia, on the 
8th of June, 1868, disturbed their plans; but in spite of the with- 
drawal of Servia from the undertaking in consequence of the 
change of government, the young Bulgarians refused to abandon 
their idea, and in June, 1868, a band of one hundred and fifty 
well-armed and well-disciplined men, called " The Bulgarian Le- 
gion," crossed the Danube at Vardim, near Sistova. Although 
this was the shortest road to the Balkans, yet it lay through a 
province almost entirely inhabited by Circassians and Turks. 
Midhat Pasha again took energetic measures; "The Legion" 
was obliged to take refuge in the defiles of the mountains south 
of Gabrovo, and was destroyed to a man. In spite of the fool- 
hardiness and of the want of forethought that characterized this 
attempt, Turks, as well as Bulgarians, give honor to the bravery 
and the courage of "The Legion." 

Meanwhile the struggle for the independence of the Bulgarian 
Church, and for freedom from the tyranny of the Greek patriarch 
and bishops was going on, and the system of national education — 
in great measure owing to the active exertions of Americans — 
was making good progress. 

At last, in 1870 — in spite of the influence which the Panar had 
brought to bear at the Porte, and of the efforts of Midhat Pasha 
and other leading Turks, who foresaw the result, and who tried 
to develop a tendency to unite with the Catholics rather than to 
become independent — a firman- was granted re-establishing the 
independent Bulgarian Church. The natural and inevitable con- 
sequences of religious independence, of the higher education of 
the people, and of the liberal ideas which those young men were 
receiving who were sent to study abroad in Russia, Germany, 
and France, as well as those educated in the American schools and 
the higher establishments at Constantinople, was to create a far 
greater national feeling than had previously existed. People who 
before that time had spoken Greek, no longer denied their nation- 
ality, and acknowledged themselves with pride to be Bulgarians. 

With the exception, however, of a slight rebellion at Sophia in 
1873, which was at once suppressed, and for which one young 
priest was hanged, and sixty persons exiled to Diarbekir, no real 



* Firman, an imperial order having the Sultan's sign manual at the top. 



220 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



agitation was carried on in the country, and no attempt was made 
by the Bulgarians to take up arms to secure their rights. Even 
in spite of the exactions of the Turkish officials, the Bulgarians, 
owing to their energy, industry, and intelligence, were prosper- 
ous. The Bulgarian population was growing rich while the 
Turks were growing poor. This was especially noticeable in 
those villages which contained a mixed population. The oppres- 
sion, however, of the Turkish authorities did not diminish, and 
the daily vexations suffered from them, ,as well as from the 
Mussulman population, were sufficient to inflame the minds of 
young men of any natural spirit, or who had ever been in a 
country, which was ruled with the slightest regard for law or 
humanity. 

THE ESKI-ZAGRA AFFAIR. 

The impossibility of obtaining redress, and indeed, in many 
cases, of bringing their troubles to the notice of the central 
government, finally brought the young Bulgarians last year to 
resolve on an armed demonstration which should gain for their 
wrongs the attention not only of the central government, but of 
the great powers of Europe. This movement was organized by 
the Bulgarian committee at Bucharest, where a number of 
exiles — some professed revolutionists — had taken refuge during 
preceding years, and had devoted themselves for some time to 
the task of stirring up discontent and fomenting insurrection in 
their own country. The various members of this committee 
secretly crossed the Danube and took charge of the rising, 
forming committees in all of the larger towns and villages. The 
head-quarters of this movement were at Tirnovo. Although the 
revolutionary leaders succeeded thus in forming a kind of organi- 
zation, the people were without arms, and unaccustomed to their 
use. I have been assured by persons connected with this move- 
ment that there was not the slightest idea of making any real 
opposition to the Turks ; but it was thought that if the inhabit- 
ants of the towns and villages collected in the mountains they 
would thus make a sufficiently formal demonstration to compel 
the Porte to pay some attention to their demands. These de- 
mands were, briefly : 



BULGARIAN DEMANDS. 



221 



1. That the country should be governed by Christian instead 
of Turkish officials. 

2. That the Bulgarian language should be recognized as official, 
or at least that all documents in Turkish should be accompanied 
by a Bulgarian translation. 

3. That there should be a reform in the method of taxation and 
of collecting the taxes, which would put an end to the abuses from 
which the Christian population now suffer. 

4. That the Christians should be allowed to enter the military 
service upon the same terms as Mussulmans. Most of these 
demands have been included in substance in the various reforms 
which have so often been given to the Christian populations of 
Turkey, in the Ilatti Sheriff* of Gul Khane, and the Hatti 
Humayoum. After this movement had been organized, and the 
day for the execution of the plan had been fixed, the chiefs 
resolved to defer it. Letters were accordingly written from 
Tirnovo to all the sub-districts postponing for some time the 
intended rising. Unfortunately, the letter intended for the com- 
mittee of Eski-Zagra, on which depended Tchirpan, ITaskeni, and 
some other towns, miscarried. 

Accordingly on the 29th of September, 1875, twenty-one 
young men from Eski-Zagra, and eighty peasants from the sur- 
rounding villages, armed, some with old muskets and others with 
sticks and clubs, went toward the Balkans. Information having 
been given to the authorities, by some one who was cognizant of 
the plot, a force was sent after them and overtook them in the 
village of Yassy-Yeran, in the district of Kazanlyk, where all 
were either captured or dispersed, with the exception of three or 
four who were killed, two of whom were burned in a straw hut. 
Arrests immediately began, and continued for a month, at the end 
of which time 415 individuals from the districts of Tchirpan, Eski- 
Zagra, and Haskeni were put in prison. By the use of persuasions, 
threats, and tortures, some of the prisoners, especially two village 
schoolmasters, were made to accuse some of the Bulgarian nota- 
bles. Many more innocent people would probably have been 
arrested had not the vali f of Adrianople. Hurshid Pasha, issued 
orders not to give the affair too much importance. Some days af- 



* Haiti Sheriff, an imperial decree or ordinance. \ Vali, governor. 



222 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



terward Tassum Pasha, the mutessarif * of Philippopolis, appointed 
a commission of five Turks and five Bulgarians to examine the 
prisoners. This pasha was not unwilling to turn the matter to his 
.personal profit, and through his agent, Jakovaki, a Greek from 
Philippopolis, he began to extort money from the prisoners as a 
condition of their release. One man, who had been accused of 
selling arms to the insurgents, was obliged to pay seventy Turk- 
ish pounds, f and another ten Turkish pounds. At this time, 
however, both Iiurshid Pasha and Tassum Pasha were removed, 
and in their places Omer Fevzi Pasha, the present minister of 
police, was appointed vali of Adrianople, and Aziz Pasha mutes- 
sarif of Philippopolis, while Selim Effendi and Georgaki Eifendi 
were sent on a special mission from Constantinople to investi- 
gate the matter, which they did by means of a commission com- 
posed of two Turks and two Bulgarians from Adrianople, Philip- 
popolis, and Kazanlyk, severally. 

Difficulties and delays were caused by disputes between Selim 
Effendi and Seid Aga, of Tchirpan, a relative of Abdul Kerim 
Pasha, who greatly tyrannizes over both Christians and Turks in 
Tchirpan, and has long been guilty of many nefarious practices. 
Each accused the other of extorting money from the prisoners. 
After three months' sitting, this commission sent 75 persons to 
the prisons at Adrianople to await their final trial, while about 
100 remained still without examination in Eski-Zagra. The rest 
were released. The 100 men left at Eski-Zagra were gradually 
released in consequence of orders from Philippopolis. Of those 
sent to Adrianople seven were hanged and ten released, while 
the remaining fifty-three continued in prison without trial until 
very recently. 

THE INSTJKRECTIOK OF MAY, 1876. PLANS AND OUTBREAK. ■ 

In consequence of the premature explosion at Eski-Zagra, the 
plan of an insurrection was abandoned for the winter, and the 
agents of the Bucharest committee returned to Eoumania. It 
was resolved to see what could be done by petitioning the Sub- 
lime Porte. During the winter, therefore, the authorities at 



*Mutessarif, mayor or burgomaster. f The Turkish pound = $4.34. 



THE IXSUEKECTI01S- OF MAY, 1876. 



223 



Constantinople received numerous signed petitions from every 
part of Bulgaria, all of which demanded the privilege of serv- 
ing in the army and the abolition of the military exemption- 
tax. 

This idea was one to which Midhat Pasha was violently op- 
posed, and orders were therefore given to the newspapers not to 
publish any such petitions, or even to state the fact that they had 
been sent or received. 

The agents of the Bucharest committee, who came to Bulgaria 
during the winter, thought that nothing could be done by peti- 
tions, and came to the erroneous conclusion that the country 
was ready for an insurrection. On reporting this at Bucharest, 
twenty-five new agents were sent, who crossed the Danube on 
the 12th of March, and who each took charge of preparing and 
organizing a district. 

The most prominent of these was a young man from Kop- 
rivtchitsa (Avrat-Alan), where he went under the assumed name 
of George Benkofsky, who was practically the leader of the 
movement. Others were Yankof and Economof, both originally 
from Iiustchuk. 

In Macedonia, on account of the difficulties with the Greeks, 
no attempt was made at organization, except at Kaslug ; but 
throughout nearly the whole of the districts of Philippopolis and 
Slivno, and in part of that of Sophia, committees were appointed 
in each town and village to stir up the inhabitants, to collect arms, 
and to raise money. In all about £1,450 = $7,250 was collected. 
'Nine hundred pounds of this sum were sent to Constantinople, to 
merchants who had done like work on previous occasions, and who 
were to send arms by railway to Yeni-Zagra. These merchants, 
however, replied that, on account of measures taken to prevent 
the shipment of arms by railway, it was impossible to send any. 
The rest of the money was sent to Bucharest for the purpose 
of buying what old arms could be picked up, and it was ex- 
pected that six thousand muskets could be brought into Bul- 
garia from that quarter. In point of fact, none were ever re- 
ceived. 

Believing that their preparations were sufficiently advanced, the 
rising was fixed for the 30th of April, but in consequence of want 
of harmony between the districts, and partly, also, because there 



224 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



seemed no probability of an immediate declaration of war by 
Servia, at a meeting of some of the leaders and members of the 
committee, held at Panagurishta (Otluk Keni), on the 31st of 
March, the rising was postponed until after the middle of May. 
A new meeting was called at the village of Metchka, near Pana- 
gurishta, for the 30th of April, and word was sent to Bucharest 
that the rising was postponed. At the meeting at Metchka, 
where there were present about one hundred and twenty delegates 
from the different districts, it became evident that the plan had 
been betrayed to the government, and that a movement was going 
on among the Turks which would prevent its success. Instead, 
however, of disbanding, and of postponing any attempt at insur- 
rection until the people were armed and were all informed of the 
day on which the rising was to take place — for the district of 
Slivno was not at that time in direct agreement with that of 
Tatar Bazardjik — Benkofsky and the other chiefs were so fool- 
hardy as to decide upon beginning at once. Apparently they 
persuaded the villagers to this movement, in part, by making 
them believe that all they would have to do would be to defend 
their villages for a few days, at the end of which time Servian, 
and even Russian troops would advance to their assistance. 
Nothing indeed could be more foolish than the plan which the 
insurgents proposed. Instead of collecting a band of well-armed 
and well-mounted men, riding over the country burning the rail- 
way bridges, cutting the telegraph wires, and destroying the com- 
munications of the Turkish forces, which would have given them 
time to unite all the districts, and might have caused great diffi- 
culties to the Turkish government, especially in view of the 
approaching complications with Servia, they limited themselves 
to throwing up intrenchments at a few villages, to burning the 
railway station at Bellova, and, if we may believe the Turkish 
statement, to attempting to set fire to Philippopolis. The stu- 
pidity both of this plan and of its execution would almost seem 
to prove the statement made to me by some of the insurgents, 
that they had really no intention of attempting to gain anything 
by force of arms, but were desirous only of making such an armed 
demonstration as would draw the attention of the goverment to 
their demands. They had no idea of the cruel manner in which 
the insurrection would be suppressed, for in previous attempts of 



THE INSURRECTION OF MAY, 1876. 



225 



this sort, the government had limited itself to the capture or dis- 
persion of the armed bands, and the punishment of the ring- 
leaders. 

The alleged plan of the insurgents, which was, it is stated, 
captured on one of the leaders, who was killed in the mountains 
near Sophia, and which was published in the report of the tri- 
bunal at Philippopolis, is of too doubtful origin, and contains 
too many absurdities to be looked upon as an authentic docu- 
ment.* 

The day after the meeting at Metchka, the 1st of May, the in- 
surgent leaders took possession of the villages of Klissura, Kop- 
rivtchitsta, Panagurishta, and Bellova, disarmed, and in some 
cases killed the Turkish officials, threw up intrenchments, and 
waited for the attack. 

The same day the mutessarif of Philippopolis, Aziz Pasha, was 
informed of the meeting at Metchka, and of the probabilities 
of trouble. He therefore went at once by railway to Tatar Ba- 
zardjik, after telegraphing to Constantinople for regular troops. 
Having collected what troops he had — some were sent on from 
Eski-Zagra and Adrianople — he went to Panagurishta, but at the 
village of Kaloyerovo he met some frightened Turks who advised 
him to retire, as they said the whole country was rising, and 
more than 3,000 insurgents were under arms. He held a council, 
and decided to return. The Turks, however, who had given the 
information, reached Tatar Bazardjik before the pasha, and 
caused there a great panic by telling the inhabitants of the insur- 
rection, and calling out to them, "Save yourselves and your 
families; the Russians are near." This was on Sunday, a mar- 
ket-day, and "it is said that fully five thousand peasants from the 
neighboring villages had come to the town for the market. These 
peasants were as frightened as the Turks, and abandoning every- 
thing ran home to save their families. The panic is said to have 
been so great that Turks even ran away naked from the baths. 

* I was shown by the authorities of Philippopolis a Turkish copy of this 
plan, said to have been translated from the original Bulgarian, which Selim, 
Effendi told me had been taken to Sophia. I was afterward furnished with a 
French translation, which was practically the same as that which was published. 
It is in the nature of a catechism, and was apparently made up by some Turk- 
ish official. It was used as the basis for obtaining evidence during the trials. 



226 



THE COXQTJEST OF TURKEY. 



In view of the prevailing anxiety the railway officials telegraphed 
to know how to act in order to save the railway property. They 
were told to submit, but to remain at their posts. 

MEASURES TAKE^ BY AUTHORITIES. ARMING OF BASHI-BAZOUKS. 

At Philippopolis, during the absence of the mutessarif, there 
was also a panic accompanied by great disorder. Aziz Pasha, 
who is a Bosniac, was not liked by the Turkish population. He 
had rilled several situations with credit to himself, had been 
governor of Widdin, and commander-in-chief of the troops which 
had put down the rebels in 1867. At Philippopolis he had been 
a good governor, and had incurred the displeasure of the Turks 
by being, as they thought, too favorable to the Christians. At- 
tempts had been made long before to have him removed, and his 
authority was secretly undermined. Many weeks before the out- 
break of the insurrection, owing to the discontented state of the 
Bulgarian population, he had written and telegraphed to Con- 
stantinople the state of affairs, and had demanded regular troops 
to prevent an outbreak. These were not given to him, and when 
the insurrection finally broke out, and he went to Tatar Bazard- 
jik, his telegrams, both to Akif Pasha, the vali of Adrianople, 
and to the grand vizier, Mahmoud Pasha, remained without atten- 
tion. During his absence in Tatar Bazardjikthe leading Turks of 
Philippopolis, under the guidance of the influential beys," quietly 
armed the Turkish population, alleging as an excuse that some of 
the prisoners confined in the konak f had endeavored to escape. 
They also telegraphed to Akif Pasha, at Adrianople, to be allowed 
to raise companies of bashi-bazouks.J Akif Pasha replied, giving 
the permission, and sending one Bashid Pasha, formerly gover- 
nor of Draina, and then living at Adrianople, to command them, 
promising also to supply them with arms. The population of 
Adrianople was at the same time armed, through the influence of 
the beys. 

Aziz Pasha found on his return that he was practically power- 

* Bey, an army officer, usually a lieutenant-colonel. It is also used for other 
officers of high rank. 

f Konak, town-house. J BasJii-bazouks, irregular cavalry — great villains. 



BASHI-BAZOUKS SENT TO BULGAKIA. 



229 



less. The Greek vice-consul, Mr. Matalas, who seemed well in- 
formed of what was going on, remonstrated with him about the 
formation of companies of bashi-bazouks and the indiscriminate 
arming of the Mussulman population. Aziz Pasha replied that 
he himself strongly disapproved of the measure, but could do 
nothing, owing to the suspicions entertained of him, for the local 
Turks accused him of sympathizing with the Bulgarians. Aziz 
Pasha remained nominally mutessarif for a few days, and was then 
replaced by Abdul Hamid Pasha (the brother of Chefket Pasha). 

The vali of Adrianople, Akif Pasha, who acted with the full 
knowledge, if not under the orders, of Midhat Pasha and Has- 
san Avni Pasha, and who is mainly responsible for the arming 
of the bashi-bazouks, endeavored subsequently to excuse him- 
self on the ground that there were no troops in the country ; that 
Mahmoud Pasha, the grand vizier, refused to send troops, and 
that the arming of the Mussulman population was therefore a 
matter of urgent necessity. This, however, is not entirely true, 
for, among other evidence to the contrary, we know that the 
troops which were then at Eski-Zagra and Tchirpan ? were imme- 
diately sent to the locality of the insurrection. Further, we 
learn from the Levant Herald of the 5th of May, that on the 
4th of the same month a battalion of the line, 800 strong, was 
sent from Constantinople, and that four companies more were 
dispatched the next day. The same paper of the 9th May states 
that a special train left Adrianople on the 4th for Tatar Bazard- 
jik with a detachment of 300 redifs ; * that a train with troops 
left Constantinople on the 6th, and that on the 8th 400 cases of 
muskets and 2,200 cases of ammunition were sent from Con- 
stantinople to Adrianople and Tatar Bazardjik. These arms 
were probably intended for the bashi-bazouks, who, apparently, 
were not then thoroughly organized. The Levant Llerald of the 
11th of May states that on the 8th of May five companies of 
bashi-bazouks, which had been organized by the authorities at 
Haskeni, went to Philippopolis, and adds, " Some excesses are 
said to have been committed by them on the way." f 

* Redifs, reserve troops. 

f The same newspaper gives details with regard to the outrages of the bashi. 
bazouks, especially of their having fired on Bulgarians employed on the railway. 



230 



THE COXQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Some troops were also brought down from the Servian fron- 
tier, for Hassan Fasha advanced toward the insurgent district 
from ^N"ish,with at least three battalions of infantry, and a large 
body of cavalry. 

The authorities had in this way collected about 5,000 regular 
troops, before the campaign against the insurgents had really 
begun. The calling out of the bashi-bazouks was therefore 
clearly unnecessary, nor can it be justified by the state of panic 
which for a day or two existed in Tatar Bazardjik and Philip- 
popolis. 

The Mussulman population lost no time, however, in making 
use of the arms which had been distributed to them. On the 
5th of May, Mi*. Matalas, the Greek vice-consul, to whom I have 
before referred, went from Philippopolis to Tatar Bazardjik, and 
saw the villages to the north of the railway already in flames. 
In these villages there had been no attempt at insurrection and 
no resistance. At Tatar Bazardjik he found the Turks all 
armed, but much frightened. As soon as troops began to arrive 
they recovered their courage, and on the 7th of May 4,000 bashi- 
bazouks went out, with the watchword, " All glory for the Sul- 
tan and pillage for us." They marched northward, passing the 
village of Alikotch, which they did not touch, as the inhabitants 
were there. Going further on, they came to the village of 
Badulovo, which had been abandoned by the terrified inhab- 
itants, and which they, therefore, pillaged and burned, as also 
several more in the immediate neighborhood. The flames of 
these burning villages Mr. Matalas was able to see from Tatar 
Bazardjik. On returning from Badulovo, the bashi-bazouks 
found Olikotch also abandoned, and they then pillaged and 
burned that village. Mr. Matalas saw also the flames of many 
burning villages to the north of the river Maritza, on the 9th, as 
lie was returning to Philippopolis. 

All of this was before the attack either by troops or by bashi- 
bazouks on the insurgent villages, and the villages thus burned 
were entirely innocent. Beady excuses were found for pillaging 
and burning these villages, on the ground that the Christians had 
hesitated or refused to give their arms, or in the allegation that 
not all the arms had been delivered up. 



INSURRECTION AT PERUSHTITSA. 231 



THE REPRESSION OF THE INSURRECTION. 

Peruslititsa was a well-built, nourishing village, inhabited 
entirely by Bulgarians, and situated at the foot of the Phodope, 
three hours south of Philippopolis. It had 400 houses and about 
3,500 inhabitants, with two churches and two schools. It had 
recently founded an agricultural society, and had collected money 
to start an agricultural school. It was richer and more prosper- 
ous than any other town in that region, and had on that account 
excited the jealousy and envy of neighboring villages, inhab- 
ited by Pomaks or Bulgarians, who, at the time of the Turk- 
ish conquest, had become Mussulmans, to save their property, 
and who, although they speak Bulgarian, and know but little 
Turkish, are in character as well as religion thoroughly Mussul- 
man. 

Even were there a committee here, there was no insurrection. 
The inhabitants, alarmed by the flames of the burning villages 
and the reports of pillage and murder, and frightened by the 
constant threats of massacre made by the inhabitants of Ustiina 
and other Pomak villages, sent one of their tchorbadjis, or nota- 
bles, Pangel Gitchof, with three companions, to Philippopolis to 
ask the mutessarif Aziz Pasha for protection. Two zaptiehs 
were sent to the village, with orders to tell the inhabitants to 
keep quiet and live on good terms with their neighbors. The 
zaptiehs were also ordered to go to Ustiina, and the other Mus- 
sulman villages, to persuade the Mussulmans to make no attack 
on the Christians, and to urge them both to make some arrange- 
ment between themselves for their mutual protection. The zap- 
tiehs, after staying a short time in Peruslititsa, went on to Ustiina 
and did not return. The inhabitants of Ustiina insisted that the 
people of Peruslititsa should give up their arms, and that a few 
of the leading men who had gone to Ustiina for negotiation 
should be kept as hostages. 

Affairs looking constantly more and more threatening, Rangel 
was sent on *a second mission to Philippopolis, and came back 
with a message from Aziz Pasha that he had no troops to give 
them, and that they must defend themselves in case of attack. 
The people of Perushtitsa insist that this was contained in a 
letter from the pasha. This the Turks deny. 



232 



THE COXQTTEST OF TUKKEY. 



In the meantime, bashi-bazouks from the mountains had made 
their appearance before the village, and their leader, Ahmed 
Aga, of Tamrysh, had sent Deli Hassan and another of his men 
into the town with orders to prepare everything for him, as he 
was coming with a band of bashi-bazouks to protect them. The 
inhabitants replied that they wished none of his protection, and 
were ready to protect themselves. The bashi-bazouks refused to 
take back this message, and a threatening altercation ensued, 
during which they were seized by some of the inhabitants. It 
is not certain whether they were killed with arms in their hands, 
or after they had given them up ; but the people of Perushtitsa 
had become excited by the stories of the deeds of the bashi- 
bazouks brought by men who had escaped from some of the other 
villages which had been attacked. 

Pangel was then again sent to Philippopolis, to tell the gov- 
ernor what the people had done, and the imminent danger in 
which they stood. In order to arrive safely he took with him his 
daughter, who was very ill, under pretense of consulting a phy- 
sician. He was this time arrested, and is still confined in prison, 
as I was told by the Turks, partly because he had not informed 
the government of the death of the two Pomaks, and partly be- 
cause he had conveyed powder and shot to the inhabitants of 
Perushtitsa. The Bulgarians say that he is detained because the 
Turks desire to prevent him from giving evidence of the fact 
that the people at Perushtitsa were told by Aziz Pasha to pro- 
tect themselves. 

The bashi-bazouks, who appeared before Perushtitsa, had first 
endeavored to enter the Greek village of Stenimakho (1,500 
Greek houses, 300 Bulgarian houses, and 80 Turkish houses). 
The Greeks of this town, through the influence of their compa- 
triots in Philippopolis, obtained permission to keep their arms, 
and had received some powder and shot from Philippopolis. 
They were thus able to protect themselves. This was done on 
the urgent representation of the Greek vice-consul, who had 
taken the responsibility of advising them to protect themselves, 
and had held the Pasha answerable if they were injured. In 
this they were in some degree assisted by Hadji Hamid, the 
mudir,* by whose good-will the town was saved. He succeeded 



* Mudir, the administrator or chief of a hundred or village. 



OUTRAGES AT PERUSHTITSA. 



235 



in restraining the Turks of the place, who, in order to compro- 
mise the Christians, had gone to the churches in the night and 
endeavored to put powder in them. 

After being prevented from entering Stenimakho, these Po- 
maks and bashi-bazouks went to the Bulgarian village of Lias- 
kovo, which they completely pillaged, and then to Yabrovo, 
which they also plundered, killing one man. 

On arriving at Perushtitsa they were joined by the inhabit- 
ants of Ustuna, Tamrysh, and other Mussulman villages. Be- 
fore attacking Perushtitsa they sacked and burned the monastery 
of St. Teodor, on the hill above, as well as those of the Panagia, 
and Bezsrebrinetsi, near Yuetshma. 

Between six and seven hundred of the inhabitants of Pe- 
rushtitsa fled for refuge to Philippopolis, and the rest resolved 
to put themselves in a condition of defense. For this pur- 
pose they took water and provisions into the two churches 
and school-houses, cut loop-holes in the high and thick walls 
which surrounded the upper church-yard, and shut themselves 
up. 

This was on Tuesday, the 9th of May. Some went out to sur- 
render, but after giving up their arms they were immediately 
massacred. Others who fled to the fields were overtaken and 
killed. For three days the bashi-bazouks kept the people shut 
up in the churches, firing over the walls at any of them they 
could see, while they pillaged and burned the houses of the 
town. 

Finally, on Thursday night, Rashid Pasha arrived with a bat- 
talion of redifs* and some more bashi-bazouks from Philippopo- 
lis. It is said that he sent the insurgents a summons to surrender ; 
but the inhabitants of Perushtitsa insist that no such message ever 
came, as they would at any time have been willing to surrender 
to regular troops. Having been informed by the bashi-bazouks 
of Ahmed Aga, that Servian and Russian soldiers were defending 
the churches, Rashid Pasha immediately began bombarding them. 
During the night the people in the upper church on the hill-side 
decided to abandon it. They cut a hole in the rear wall and fled. 
Some of them went to Ustuna and gave themselves upland they 



Redifs, reserve troops. 



236 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



were, I am happy to say, in most cases, well treated. Many of the 
others took refuge in the lower church. 

Next morning, on finding the upper church abandoned, Kashid 
Pasha moved his artillery to bombard the lower. Several shells 
came in through the windows, killing many people. The defend- 
ers, however, still held out, until Saturday morning, the 13th of 
May, when, for the first time, they saw some regular troops. 
They opened the doors, and a part of them went oat to surrender, 
but they were immediately massacred by the soldiers. The rest 
resolved to defend themselves to the death. But finally two or 
three women started out alone, succeeded in attracting the atten- 
tion of the soldiers, and, on their lives being spared, persuaded the 
rest to follow and give themselves up. At the beginning of 
the defense of the village, the girls all cut off their braids of 
hair and dressed themselves in boys' clothes, in order that they 
might save their honor in case they fell into the hands of the 
Turks. 

Toward the end of the struggle, one man, Spaso Genoff, 
killed his two sisters, his wife, and his four children, rather 
than have them fall into the hands of the Turks, and then killed 
himself. 

All of the inhabitants of the town who were captured, as well 
as those who had taken refuge in the Turkish villages, were sent 
under guard to Philippopolis and imprisoned. The women and 
children were subsequently released, but the men were retained 
for a long time. 

After the capture of the place the churches were stripped and 
in part destroyed. The church-yards, as well as the gardens of 
many of the dwellings, were dug up in search for buried treasure. 
Some valuables were found, over which the crops had been planted 
and were growing. This the Turks bring up as proof of prepa- 
rations for revolt. It cannot, however, be really regarded in that 
light, because it is the habit of Bulgarians throughout the country, 
to bury most of their valuables and property from fear of robbery 
and pillage, and this has been done especially since the insurrec- 
tion in Herzegovina. 

Perushtitsa was entirely destroyed ; not a roof, and scarcely a 
wall, except those of the churches, remained standing. Altogether 
about 1,000 people perished. The dead bodies remained for a 




EXECUTION OF BULGARIANS. 



OUTRAGES AT PERUSHTITSA. 



237 



long time without being buried — a fact which was stated at the 
time in some of the newspapers of Constantinople — and it was 
only on the urgent representations of the consuls at Philippopolis, 
that a pestilence might arise, that the government sent persons to 
bury them. 

Ahmed Aga, of Tamrysh, who was the leader of the bashi- 
bazouks at Perushtitsa, was rewarded with a silver medal. 

A Frenchman, M. Gouzon, was killed by the bashi-bazouks at 
Perushtitsa. Becoming alarmed at the fate of a companion, and 
disregarding the remonstrances of his friends at Philippopolis, he 
went to Perushtitsa. He arrived there the night before the 
attack, and remained in the village about an hour, eating his sup- 
per. The inhabitants begged him to intercede with the authori- 
ties and with the bashi-bazouks for them, and to say that they 
had no intention of resisting the government, but only desired 
protection. He endeavored to reassure them. Soon after leav- 
ing the village he fell in with a party of bashi-bazouks, who 
stopped him, took from him all his money and his horse, and 
ordered him to sit on the ground. He protested that he was a 
Frenchman traveling for his private business, and showed in proof 
his teskereh, or passport. This was read by the chief of the 
bashi-bazouks, who immediately ordered the party to fire upon 
him. He died at once. His hat was afterward found riddled 
with shot. 

Adyl Pasha and Hafiz Pasha, having arrived at Philippopolis 
with eight battalions of regular troops and six mountain-guns of 
new model, took command of the forces there, and Hafiz Pasha, 
with several battalions and a large detachment of bashi-bazouks, 
marched against Panagurishta (Otlukkeni), which was regarded 
as the head-quarters of the insurrection. 

Another large force, under Hassan Pasha, who had come from 
Nish, marched in the same direction. Benkofsky, the chief of 
the insurgents, had taken command at Panagurishta, on the 1st 
of May, the day after the meeting at Metchka, and, under his 
directions, a line of earth- works had been thrown across the slope 
of the hills crossing the main road going from Tatar Bazardjik, 
about two miles from the town. Another small wall had been 
thrown up near the edge of the town. Before this Benkofsky 



238 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



had called the inhabitants together, and had made them a vigor- 
ous address, for it seems that he was an eloquent young man, 
which excited them to the greatest enthusiasm. They went to the 
-church and forced one of the priests to bless their undertaking, 
and then compelled a young girl of nineteen, Kaika, the daughter 
of a priest, and a school-mistress in the village, to mount a horse 
and ride in a procession, carrying a silk flag, which she had pre- 
viously been persuaded to embroider w T ith the old Bulgarian lion, 
and the words " Freedom or Death." This girl subsequently, 
after being taken prisoner, was nicknamed by the Turks " The 
Queen of the Bulgarians,*' in reference to the part she had played 
on that day. 

After this procession, when it seems that many of the insur- 
gents were drunk, they attacked the konak, or government-house, 
and killed two Turkish tithe-collectors, who attempted to escape 
from the konak, and subsequently they killed the servant of a 
Turkish engineer from Philippopolis, who refused to give up his 
arms. Two zaptiehs, another tithe-collector, a collector of beklik, 
or sheep-tax, and two Pomaks were captured in the khan, and 
w r ere imprisoned, and it is said that they were afterward put to 
death. A few days after the insurgents killed another zaptieh, 
who had been exceedingly cruel and harsh, and was much dis- 
liked. 

On the first evening a man coming from Tatar Bazardjik, 
who it was thought was a tithe-collector, was killed, together 
w T ith the driver of his carriage, because they refused to surrender. 
The next day the insurgents at the edge of the village met two 
Turks with three women. On being summoned to surrender they 
fired, and the insurgents fired in return., killing the two Turks 
and one of the women. One of the remaining women seized a 
saber, and endeavored to defend herself, and wounded an insur- 
gent. The others then fired and killed her also. The third 
woman was taken to the village and well treated. After the 
surrender of the village she was given up to the pasha, and at the 
time of my inquiry was living at Zlatitsa. Another tithe-collec- 
tor, who was met on the plain and refused to surrender, was also 
killed. Ten Turkish workmen who were coming from Philip- 
popolis met the insurgents on the frontier of the village and were 
ordered to surrender. They refused, and one was killed and one 



THE ATTACK ON PANAGUEISHTA. 



239 



wounded. The wounded man was treated by a doctor, and the 
others, who were made prisoners, were well treated, and subse- 
quently returned to Philippopolis on the surrender of the town. 
In all 12 (perhaps 17) Turks, two of whom were women, were 
killed. Most of them were killed with arms in their hands while 
resisting the insurgents. The killing of the tax-collectors, who 
had incensed the people by their injustice and tyranny, is easily 
intelligible. 

On the 12th of May, Hafiz Pasha and his troops arrived from 
the side of Streltcha, coming down by the large church, where 
also some small earth-works had been erected. There were about 
seventy men, only thirty of whom were well armed. At the 
other fortifications there were 150 men, while Benkofsky and 
eighty well-armed Bulgarians were at a place in the mountains 
called Siva Gramada, by which he had expected the attacking 
forces to pass. The Bulgarians maintain that no summons to 
surrender was sent to them, although there was a report that a 
letter to that effect had been received by one of the officials, who 
concealed it from the rest. They say that when the regular 
troops came on the top of the hill overlooking the town they 
began to fire, and when nearer they bombarded it. The bom- 
bardment began at nine o'clock on the morning of the 12th of 
May, and lasted till about midnight. Some of the inhabitants 
succeeded in running away, but others were prevented by cavalry, 
and were either taken prisoners or were killed. The pillage of 
the town and the massacre of the inhabitants began on Friday 
night and continued till Tuesday night. On Saturday, Hafiz 
Pasha tried to stop the pillage, but in consequence of the dis- 
content of the bashi-bazouks of Ali Bey and Tussum Bey the 
plunder was allowed to continue until Tuesday. Every house 
was pillaged, and about 400 out of the 3,000 houses of the town 
were burned. Panagurishta was a considerable commercial center, 
and the houses burned included the bazaar, the churches, all the 
schools except a girls' school, which, on account of its position, 
was not noticed. According to the best information I could 
obtain, by careful comparison of statements, over two thousand 
people were killed in and about the town. Of these, 769 (264 
men, 288 women, and 217 children) were inhabitants of Pana- 
gurishta itself, as appears by a list of names in my possession. 



240 



THE CONQUEST OF TTJBKEY. 



The others belonged to the nine villages of Dinkeni, Steherkovo, 
Elshitsa, Jumaya, Kalaglasi, Popintsa, Ereli, Kepeli, Biata, and 
Skekhlari, who, partly owing to persuasions and the threats of 
the insurgents, and partly through fear of the Mussulmans, had 
taken refuge in the town before the approach of the troops. 

The capture and sack of this place, in which the regular troops 
took the chief part, were accompanied by the most fearful cruelty 
and barbarity. It would seem that scarcely a woman or girl in 
the place escaped violation. In general, it was extremely difficult 
to obtain evidence of acts of this kind, as from natural modesty 
the women were unwilling to. state facts which they thought per- 
haps reflected upon their personal honor, and the men disliked 
to tell such things of their wives, sisters, and daughters. Added 
to this is the fact, that such is the prevalent chastity and such the 
feeling of honor among the Bulgarians, that no woman who is 
known to have been violated or seduced, can ever be married. 
Rape and violation, however, appeared to have been so common 
in Panagurishta that there seemed less objection there to telling 
the truth, and I had, unfortunately, the best evidence of every 
kind with regard to violations of women and girls of all ages. 
Nor were acts of bestiality perpetrated on the female sex alone. 

Among other victims to the lust of the soldiers was Raika, the 
echool-mistress of whom I have already spoken, who was repeat- 
edly violated. Some time subsequently orders were given for her 
arrest, and she was con lined for the night in the house of the 
mudir of Panagurishta, who then also violated her and maltreated 
her. This fact has been contradicted, on the ground that the girl 
herself denies it. It is true that she denied it to me when inter- 
rogated in the presence of the doctor of the prisons and of several 
other persons, besides bystanders of the street. As she was con- 
fined in the harem of the imam of Philippopolis I was only able 
to see her in the street, w T here she was brought for the purpose. 
At a more private interview with her afterward, she admitted 
that she had been violated, and her statement was confirmed to 
me, so far as the soldiers were concerned, by a woman who was 
present and saw it. That she denied it in court, and offered to 
submit to medical examination, I am unable to believe. State- 
ments were made to me to that effect, but always by persons who 
were not present at her examination ; and Selim Efiendi, the 



ATROCITIES AT PANAGUEISHTA. 



241 



president of the tribunal, whom I asked about it, stated to me 
that no such thing had taken place in his court, and that it was 
the first he had ever heard of it, adding that the question was 
not even asked her. 

Among other acts of barbarity, Feodor Hadji Peof, an old 
man of seventy-five, was violated on the altar in the church and 
then killed and burned. An old blind man, Dontcha Strigalof, 
was fastened up in his house and burnt alive. Another old man, 
a public benefactor, whose charities had extended to Mussulmans 
as well as to Christians, Zvatko Boyadjef, had his eyes put out, 
and was then killed and burned. 

While the troops and bashi-bazouks sent out from Philippop 
olis were thus restoring order to the different sections of the 
province, Batak, a large village, situated in the mountains about 
30 miles south of Tatar Bazardjik, was destroyed by the bashi- 
bazouks, under command of Achmed Aga of Burutina, or, as 
he is sometimes called, of Dospat (Dospat Balkan). 1 have 
heard that he was sent there by orders of the medjliss * of Tatar 
Bazardjik, but was unable to assure myself of the truth of this 
statement. 

A few bashi-bazouks had been seen round the town for three 
days, when finally, on St. George's day (May 5th), when the 
people were at church, Achmed Aga appeared in front of the 
village. The inhabitants, after consulting a little, went home, 
stayed in their houses, and got their arms ready to defend them- 
selves. They then sent to the Turks to know what Achmed 
Aga wanted. The first two messengers were killed. Achmed 
Aga then ordered the inhabitants to send out to him the chief 
men of the place for a conference. No one wished to go ; but 
finally, Vranko, one of the tchorbadjis, or notables, offered him- 
self as a messenger in case no one else would volunteer. He 
went out accompanied by his wife Sophia — who was one of the 
witnesses who appeared before me — his three children, and 
another tchorbadji, Triandafll, with his son. Achmed Aga re- 
called to them that he was the natural protector of Batak, for 
it seems that for several generations he and his ancestors had 
claimed a sort of protectorate over this neighborhood. He told 



* Medjliss, town council. 



242 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



tliem to have confidence in him, and give up their arms, and 
swore a solemn oath that none should be hurt or even a hair of 
their heads touched. Triandafil and his son remained as hostages 
while the rest went back to the village, and the arms were sent 
out in three carts. It was then arranged that the bashi-bazouks 
should be distributed in the houses of the village. At this time, 
Triandafil and Vranko were retained as hostages till the arrange- 
ments should be completed. While Vranko's wife was preparing 
a lunch for Achmed Aga, who was to stay in their house, the 
bashi-bazouks came and began to torture her to obtain money. 
After undergoing various tortures she fainted away, and re- 
mained in that condition for some time, her infant being torn 
from her arms and thrown into a stable. Some others came up 
and raised her by her hair, and she gave them 460 piasters, 
which was all she had. The bashi-bazouks, however, thought 
that she had more, undressed her, and found her husband's watch. 
She wanted them to kill her, but they gave her back her outside 
clothes, and carried her off and kept her for three days. 

In the meantime, after getting what money and valuables they 
could from the villagers, the bashi-bazouks collected many of the 
prettiest young girls, and took them to a hill outside the town, 
where they were reserved to satisfy the passions of the ruffians. 
Indiscriminate slaughter now began. "Women, girls, and chil- 
dren were killed in the houses and in the streets, while many 
men were taken to a log of wood and beheaded with sabers. 
Very few were able to escape the cordon of bashi-bazouks, and 
the majority of the inhabitants were killed under circumstances 
of great barbarity. Yranko's wife found the bodies of her hus- 
band and of TriandanTs son, with their heads cut off. Triandafil 
had been impaled alive on a wooden spit, and then roasted. 
Pregnant women were ripped open, and their unborn infants 
carried about on the bayonets of the bashi-bazouks. The 
school-house was burned with 200 women and children within. 
Other houses, in which 20, 30, and even 40 women had shut 
themselves up, were burned, together with the inmates. The 
remainder of the inhabitants sought refuge in the church and the 
church-yards, but the bashi-bazouks scaled the high walls, and all 



OUTRAGES AT BATAK. 



243 



the villagers in the church-yard were hilled. Petroleum, straw, 
and fire-brands were used to set fire to the wood-work inside the 
church, and sabers and muskets did the rest. The young girls 
who had previously been taken outside of the town were all 
violated, and then beheaded. 

I visited Batak on the 1st of August. On entering the village, 
I passed through a small hollow on the hill-side, in which I 
counted more than a hundred skulls, which had evidently been 
cut off by a sharp instrument. From their small size and the 
braids of hair still clinging to them, they were beyond doubt the 
skulls of women. The dogs, which in large numbers had been 
gnawing the bones, were driven off at my approach. 

Farther on, the fields were full of skulls and skeletons. 

In the town but one building, a mill, still retained its roof and 
walls, and its weir was full of swollen corpses. Everywhere 
through the streets I found bones of women to which shreds of 
female clothing hung. There were shirts with the heads and 
limbs protruding, the hands and feet having been out off. There 
were skulls with braids of hair attached. There were even rot- 
ting and putrid corpses. Among the ruins could be seen frag- 
ments of charred human bones and half-buried bodies. 

The church-yard was still worse. It was three feet deep with 
human remains, over which had been hurriedly thrown boards 
and heaps of stones, which but half concealed the corpses. 

Passing over these with great difficulty, on account of the fearful 
stench, I saw, protruding from the stones, hands and feet with the 
flesh dried upon them, and human heads, one of which I noticed 
had an ear cut off. Making my way to the door of the church, 
I beheld .a spectacle which it is impossible to describe. The 
ruined church was filled with decomposing bodies, many of 
which were half burned. I should think that in the church and 
the church-yard I saw the remains of fully 2,000 bodies, which 
in great part were still only half decayed. 

After the massacre of Batak, the houses having been thoroughly 
pillaged, the bashi-bazouks retired, carrying with them very many 
children and young persons, whom they intended to bring up as 
their slaves and dependents. 



244 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



About two weeks after the massacre, on the representations oi 
the consuls and others at Philippopolis that a pestilence might 
arise, the government gave orders to bury the bodies, and per- 
sons were sent to Batak for the purpose. At this time, however 
— it was during the month of June — the stench was so over- 
powering that it was impossible to carry out the orders, but 
stones, bricks, and tiles were thrown over the church-yard walls 
in the hope of at least partially covering the bodies ; and a report 
was made that the orders of the government had been executed. 
Had the bodies remained exposed to the open air, decomposition 
would have set in much sooner, but this covering of stones pre- 
served them — preserved them for us to see the evidences of 
cruelty and barbarity, which otherwise we would have been loth 
to believe. 

It is somewhat difficult to estimate the number of persons 
killed at Batak, as Turkish statements are notoriously very im- 
perfect. It does not seem even to be known exactly how many 
houses there were in the place. The number was first given to 
me as about nine hundred. Subsequently I was told five 
hundred and eighty-seven; but Mr. Matalas, the Greek vice- 
consul at Philippopolis, who made inquiries previous to the 
massacre, on account of the lumber trade in which he was in- 
terested, places it at seven hundred and eighty. In general, in 
Bulgarian villages, the number of persons living in a house 
(according to my investigations) is from seven and a half to 
eight; but in Batak, the situation was peculiar. Here, more 
than in many thickly-populated villages, was it the habit for 
married sons, with all of their children, to live in their father's 
house. I frequently heard of families of from fifteen to twenty 
persons, and knew of one — that of Blajoi Christofski — which 
consisted of thirty-nine persons, of whom only nine are now 
living. It would seem necessary therefore to place the average 
number of persons in a house at Batak at ten at least. This 
would give the population of the village at between seven and 
eight thousand. According to the tax-bills which I saw, the 
number of nufus, i. e. y persons liable to military service, was one 
thousand four hundred and twenty-one. If this number were 



BATAK. 



247 



legally calculated on the male inhabitants liable to military ser- 
vice between fifteen and sixty, it would come- to about the same, 
and we know that generally the Bulgarian Christians were 
desirous, on account of the tax, of making their numbers as small 
as possible. 

When I was at Batak, the number of persons surviving was 
stated at one thousand three hundred only. I have since heard 
of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-one persons actually 
alive, and presume that about two thousand persons escaped. Five 
thousand persons, therefore, would appear to have been killed in 
the place. The survivors had lost everything, many even their 
clothes. At the time of my visit they had only begun to return 
to their village, and many of them took advantage of my being 
there to return for the first time. 

The harvest was still standing, but they were unable to cut it 
in consequence of the want of agricultural tools. Their cattle 
had all been stolen. The chief industry of the town was in 
timber and boards, in which they carried on considerable 
traffic, even with distant parts of the country. It is said that 
there were four hundred saw-mills in the district on the little 
stream running through the town, nearly all of which were 
destroyed. 

More than this : the inhabitants were called upon for payment 
of taxes on houses which had been destroyed, and for the exemp- 
tion-tax from military service for men who had been killed. The 
tax-bills which I saw demanded for the present year on immova- 
ble property, including temetwad* 64,767 piasters, and for the 
exemption from military service 39.472 piasters. The mutessarif 
of Philippopolis told me that, although perhaps the formality of 
presenting the tax-bills had taken place, yet the tax would not be 
demanded. Still, so late as the end of September, the grain, 
after being cut, was not allowed to be brought in until the tithes 
were paid. The inhabitants were also suffering greatly; for ex- 
posure to the weather and want of food brought the natural con- 
sequences of fever and dysentery. They were also in great fear 
of their Mussulman neighbors, and with some reason ; for, at the 



Temetwad, dwelling-houses. 



248 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



time of my visit, I found sitting with the guardians of the village 
one Hadji Mehmed Ibeoglu, who had extorted money from the 
inhabitants at the time of the massacre, as well as a certain Bek- 
tashi Akbmed, called Medus, one of the leaders of the massacre 
in the church. 

Achmed Aga of Burutina, who commanded the massacre, was 
subsequently rewarded with a decoration of the Medjidie,* and 
was promoted to be Yuzbashi.f 

In the districts to which I paid particular attention, i. e., those 
of Philippopolis, Sliven, and Tirnovo, and the neighboring part 
of the province of Sophia, there were therefore seventy-nine vil- 
lages wholly or partially burned, besides very many pillaged. At 
least 9,000 houses were burned, and taking the average of eight 
to a Bulgarian house, 72,000 persons were left without roof or 
shelter. According to the figures I have given above, 10,984 
persons were killed. Many more were killed in the roads, in the 
fields, and in the mountains, of whom there is no record or count, 
and I think, therefore, I am not wrong in estimating the total 
number of killed at about 15,000. Many more died subsequently 
from disease and exposure and in prison. 

The burning of these villages and the murders and atroci- 
ties committed were clearly unnecessary for the suppression 
of the insurrection ; for it was an insignificant rebellion at 
the best, and the villagers generally surrendered at the first 
summons. 

Nor can they be justified by the state of panic ; for, as I have 
shown, that was over before the troops set out on their campaign. 
An attempt, however, has been made, and not by Turks alone, 
to defend and palliate these acts, on the ground of previous out- 
rages, which it is alleged were committed hy Bulgarians. I have 
carefully investigated this point, and I am unable to find that the 
Bulgarians committed any atrocities or outrages or any acts which 
deserve that name. I have not been able to find that (as was 
stated) the insurgents set fire to Bulgarian villages for the pur- 
pose of inciting the inhabitants to revolt ; nor, except in two cases, 
have I found that the insurgents set fire to villages inhabited bv 
Turks. One of these was Streltcha, where the Turkish authori- 
ties alleged that the band from Panagurishta set fire to some of 
the Turkish houses for the purpose of overpowering the Turks; 



TURKISH FALSEHOODS. 249 

and also to the Bulgarian houses for the purpose of rousing the 
Bulgarians. The proof of this is very weak; but still it is pos- 
sible. The other village to which I referred was that called 
Urutsi, divided into the four quarters (mahalles) of Duvanla, 
Orutchlu, Oktchulu, and Jaffarla, comprising in all 155 houses 
and a little over 500 inhabitants. This village, inhabited exclu- 
sively by Turks, was partly burned, and the Turks state that 
five of the inhabitants were killed. The Bulgarians say that 
Benkofsky, with some of his band, went from Panagurishta to 
Urusti and burned five of the houses at the very outbreak of the 
insurrection, but that the others were burned by the bashi- 
bazouks from Tatar-Bazardjik, in order to induce the in- 
habitants of Urutsi to join them. This statement of the Bul- 
garians seems about as plausible as the statement of the Turks 
that the insurgents burned some of the Bulgarian villages, and 
no more. 

I vainly tried to obtain from the Turkish officials a list of the 
outrages which they said were committed by the Bulgarians at 
the beginning of the insurrection, but I could hear nothing but 
vague statements, which, on investigation, were never proved. I 
was told by Kiani Pasha that the insurgents killed the wife and 
daughter of the mudir of Koprivtchitsa ; but this mudir had no 
daughter, and his wife had remained at Eski-zagra, where she 
still resides. I was also told of the murder of the wife of the 
mudir of Panagurishta, but at the time mentioned this village had 
no mudir. The stories that a Turk at Klissura was burned alive 
and then stoned, that a boy was flayed, that a Mussulman was 
burned at Oktchula, and that fearful outrages were perpetrated 
on a woman at Bratsigovo, all rested on no foundation. In gen- 
eral, on the spot where such occurrences were said to have taken 
place, it was impossible to find any evidence in support of them, 
even from the Turks. I found that the further I went from the 
disturbed district, the greater and more exaggerated became the 
stories of the outrages committed by the Bulgarians. I heard 
far more about them even in Adrianople than in Philippopolis, 
and in Constantinople than in Adrianople. The report of the 
special Turkish commissioner, Edib Effendi, contains statements 
on this point, as on every other, which are utterly unfounded 
by fact, and the whole report may be characterized as a tissue 



250 THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 

of falsehood. I was referred for information with, regard to 
these outrages to Hafuz Nuri Effendi, a leading Turk of Philip- 
popolis. While he mentioned two or three outrages, he evidently 
did not believe in them, and he admitted that they had never 
* been proved to him. He placed the number of Mussulmans, in- 
cluding gypsies, killed during the troubles at 153, of whom 12 
were women and children, the word "children" being taken to 
mean any one under twenty years of age. The highest number 
fixed for the Mussulmans killed, as stated to me in different places 
by Mussulmans, before and during the insurrection, is 174. I 
have myself been able to obtain proof of the death of only 115, 
as in the following table : 



Place. 


Turkish Statement. 


Proved to 
me. 


Men. 


"Women 

and 
Children. 


Persons. 




3 
14 
12 
71 

26 

2 
6 




2 
14 
12 
49 
20 

2 








2 
1 
4 






Staro Novo Selo. ) ' ' 


3 
2 




2 






5 
2 

4 

3 
5 
9 










5 






















9 






162 


12 


115 



I was unable to assure myself that more than two Mussulman 
women had been killed at Panagurishta, and these were 
killed in fight. Neither Turkish women nor Turkish chil- 
dren were killed in cold blood. No Mussulman women were 
violated. No Mussulmans were tortured. No purely Turk- 
ish village, with the exception of Urutsi, was attacked or 
burned. No Mussulman house was pillaged ; no mosque was 
desecrated. 



ENGLISH INDIGNATION. 



251 



The Turks, who were most guilty of these massacres and out- 
rages, and who richly deserved the severest punishment, a pun- 
ishment which might have very salutary consequences for the 
order and quiet of the country, are as follows : 

* # * -3f * 

It has been claimed that the massacres and outrages in Bul- 
garia were not ordered by the Porte, and that it even had no 
knowledge of them. 

* -5f * * * 

However that may be, it is certain that nearly all those who 
particularly distinguished themselves for their cruelty and bar- 
barity were rewarded, decorated, or promoted by the Porte, or 
have since held high positions in the army. On the contrary, 
an attempt has been made to punish some of those who did their 
best to act in a legal manner and to spare innocent men. 

I am, etc., 

EUGENE SCHUYLER. 

Hon. HORACE MAYNARD, 

U. S. Minister Plenipotentiary, 
Constantinople. 

The facts in relation to these outrages were sup- 
pressed and denied both, by the Turkish government 
and its friends in England, as long as it was possible 
to conceal them, but after the first report of Mr. Schuy- 
ler, which was made August 10th, and that of Mr. Wal- 
ter Baring, a secretary of the English Legation, who 
also visited the scenes of the massacres, which ap- 
peared soon after, it was impossible longer to deny them, 
though the Turkish government, true to its old charac- 
ter (and true to nothing else), published a false report, 
which they pretended was that of an eye-witness. The 
storm of indignation which followed the publication of 
the reports of Messrs. Schuyler and Baring, in England, 
was so terrible, that the ministry were compelled to 
manifest their displeasure to the Turks in very strong 
terms. 



252 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



While this horrible massacre was yet in progress, the 
Sultan Abdul Aziz was hastening to the end of his ca- 
reer and of his life. The fanatical Softas had become 
the real masters of Constantinople, and in their blind 
fury, no man's life or position was secure for a moment. 
The French and German Consuls at Salonica were mur- 
dered ; and the Softas, having been joined by some of 
the Cabinet, notably, Midhat Pasha and Hussein Avni 
Pasha, these ministers proceeded to the palace of Ab- 
dul Aziz, on the 30th of May, and informed him that he 
was deposed. Seven days later, the unfortunate Sultan 
died by his own hand. Murad V., his nephew and suc- 
cessor, proved equally incapable as a ruler, and was de- 
posed August 31st, and his brother, Abdul Hamid, 
crowned his successor, on the 7th of September, 1876. 
But the vengeance of the Almighty had already fallen 
upon some of the most guilty of those who had de- 
posed Abdul Aziz, and had been the cause of his death. 
Hussein Avni Pasha, the Minister of War, a man who 
had been the prime mover in the bloody tragedy in Bul- 
garia, who had sent the bashi-bazouks there, and had 
rewarded their brutal leaders for their horrible crimes ; 
and Raschid Pasha, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
who had aided him in this nefarious work, were both 
assassinated on the 15th of June, by Hassan Bey, a 
Turkish officer of Circassian birth, at the country house 
of Midhat Pasha, who himself had a narrow escape from 
death. Hassan Bey was captured and executed soon 
after. 



CHAPTEK VII. 



THE MILITARY AND FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE CONTEND- 
ING NATIONS AT THE DECLARATION OF THE WAR, AND 
THE EFFORTS OF DIPLOMATISTS TO PREVENT IT. 

Since the Crimean War (1853-1856) all the great 
powers of Europe have been compelled by their jeal- 
ousy of each other, and their anxiety in regard to the 
" balance of power," which was so frequently disturbed, 
to maintain immense armies and navies. The expense 
of these has been so enormous that in many of the 
States the national debt has been largely increased, and 
in all, the burden of taxation has been almost intolera- 
ble. In that time there have been three wars, which 
have involved two or more of the great powers in 
Europe, besides several lesser conflicts or insurrections 
among the smaller States, and wars in Central Asia, in 
China, in Cochin China, in Burmah, in Abyssinia, and in 
Ashantee, in which one or more of the European pow- 
ers was engaged. The three European wars were the 
war of 1859, in which Austria, on one side, and Italy 
and France, on the other, were the parties engaged ; the 
Austro-Prussian, or Seven Weeks' War of 1866, in which 
the antagonistic parties were Austria, aided by some of 
the South German States, and Prussia, with the greater 
part of the North German Confederation ; and the 
Fran co- German War of 1870-71, between France and 
Prussia, in which also the other German States sup- 
ported Prussia. In all these conflicts it was with great 
difficulty that the neutrality of the other leading States 
of Europe was maintained ; their vast preparations for 

253 



254 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



war, making the pressure for participation in the con- 
flict almost irresistible. 

This great evil of keeping up an immense war force 
in times of peace was mainly the fault of two great 
nations — France, whose Emperor, Napoleon IIL ; could 
in no other way maintain himself upon the throne he 
had usurped, than by keeping all Europe in terror,by his 
vast preparations for war, and his threatening attitude 
toward other nations whenever there was any possibility 
of disturbance at home ; and Russia, whose already great 
territory, population, and resources only inflamed her 
greed for the entire control of the lands bordering on 
the Black Sea, and the possession of Constantinople, on 
which she had for two hundred years looked with long- 
ing eyes. 

Alexander II., the present Czar of Russia, is unques- 
tionably a man of peaceful inclinations ; he has far less 
ambition than his father or uncle, or than his brother, 
the Grand Duke Nicholas. His tastes incline him to 
promote rather the culture, intelligence, and material 
progress of his subjects ; but more than once in this 
period of twenty years, has the pressure of his kinsmen, 
his statesmen, and his military leaders been so strong, 
that his movements southward and eastward have roused 
the apprehension of all Europe; while his immense 
army has made the nations of Western Europe eager 
for his alliance, or at least his neutrality, in their own 
conflicts. 

Turkey has been seriously alfected by her apprehen- 
sions of the military power of her northern neighbor. 
While her resources were greatly inferior to those of Rus- 
sia, she has expended vast sums, mostly borrowed, in the 
increase of her navy, and in bringing it to a high state 
of efficiency, while she has also maintained, at immense 



THE ADJACENT NATIONS. 



>255 



cost, a standing army which was much too large for her 
revenues. 

Austria-Hungary has been affected by the great mili- 
tary and naval strength of the two nations, Eussia and 
Turkey, whose territory joined hers; and though her 
resources were much reduced by the wars of 1859 and 
1866, in both of which she was defeated, she has increased 
her national debt and her taxation, by her struggles to 
maintain an army and navy commensurate with her peril, 
and with the force which might be brought against her 
by either of her neighbors. She had an additional cause 
of disquiet in the diversity of the races under her sway. 
The German portion of her people, which is the second 
in numbers of the three great races which people the 
empire, have some leaning toward Russia, but would be 
content to be under the control of their rulers in case of 
war; the Sclavonian races — Serbs, Croatians, Bohemians, 
Moravians, Tzechs, etc. — constituting nearly 18,000,000 of 
her population, have a national affinity for Eussia (which 
is largely Sclavonic), and would sympathize with her in 
the event of war; while the Magyars of Hungary, num- 
bering nearly 8,000,000, a brave and chivalrous people, 
allied by race to the Turks, and bitterly hostile to 
Eussia, which aided Austria in overthrowing their Ee- 
public in 1848, would insist on rendering assistance to 
Turkey. • 

Italy, which was one of the allies of Turkey in 1854, 
has now also a divided interest, and has been compelled 
by her relations to the adjacent States to keep up an 
armament beyond her means. Even the little kingdom 
of Greece, the protected or tributary States of Eoumania 
and Servia, and the gallant little independent State of 
Montenegro, have felt themselves compelled by their 
situation to put their war forces on a footing as large in 



256 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



proportion to their population, and as nruch beyond their 
revenues, as the more populous States. 

The military, naval, and financial condition of Ger- 
many, France, and Great Britain, do not concern us in 
this connection, as we are only considering now the 
nations and States immediately involved in the war at 
its commencement. 

Let us then ascertain, first, the condition of Russia in 
respect of her military and naval strength, and her finan- 
cial resources. Prince Gortschakoff is reported to have 
said to the representative of one of the Danubian princi- 
palities, in the winter of 1875-6, that "Russia did not 
wish to go to war with Turkey at present, that they were 
not sufficiently prepared as yet, but that within three 
years from that time they would be ready." It matters 
very little whether the shrewd and sagacious statesman 
really uttered these words or not, they undoubtedly 
expressed the fact, in regard to the condition of the 
country. 

The population of Russia in Europe, in 1870, was 
stated to be 78,281,447, and of Asiatic Russia, a year or 
two later, 7,229,495. By the annexation of some of the 
khanates of Central Asia, it has somewhat increased since 
that time. 

The army has always been large, and up to 1873 con- 
sisted of : 1, the regular army, which included the field- 
troops or active army, the reserve, and the sedentary 
or local troops ; 2, the irregular army, which consisted 
of the Cossacks, mostly cavalry, and accustomed to fur- 
nish themselves, and fight in their own way; 3, the Im- 
perial militia or general levy. 

In 1871, a new system of organizing the army was 
published, and the next year it was put in operation. 
It is based on the principle of the compulsory military 



THE RUSSIAN ARMY. 



259 



service of every able-bodied Kussian of military age, 
with no power to provide a substitute. The military 
age is from the twenty-first to the forty-first year, and 
requires six years to be spent in active service, nine 
years in the reserve, which is divided into two classes, 
those who in time of war make up the losses of the 
army, and those who are detailed to garrison duty. 
After fifteen years of service, as above described, the 
soldier passes into the Reichswehr or veteran corps, 
which also includes all men not in the annual contin- 
gents, which cannot be called out in time of peace, and 
even in war are local or garrison troops. 

To enable the educated classes to free themselves from 
compulsory conscription, and also to provide the re- 
quisite number of officers and persons fit to serve in the 
supplementary branches, young men possessed of a cer- 
tain degree of education are permitted to enter the army 
as volunteers when they have completed their seven- 
teenth year. They are only held to active service for a 
short time, and then pass over to the reserve after under- 
going a military examination of an inferior degree, or 
pass an officer's examination, and become either army 
officers or reserve officers. 

The Cossacks are still excepted from this conscription, 
but are enlisted on a system of their own, and form a very 
efficient, though exceedingly irregular body of cavalry. 

Under this law the number of men of military age is 
about six millions. One third of these, in round num- 
bers, are supposed to be physically incapacitated for 
service, either from small stature or other causes. 

The remainder, 4,000,000, is a much larger mili- 
tary force than any country could maintain, and from 
1,500,000 to 2,000,000 are reckoned as belonging to the 
Reichswehr or veterans, and the Imperial militia or 



260 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



reserves, only to be brought out in a great crisis. Ex- 
cluding these, the military force when fully organized 
should stand as follows: 

Field Army 810,000 

Army of the First Eeserve 130,000 

Army of the Second Eeserve 280,000 

Last Reserve, i. e., those who have 

served fifteen years 600,000 

Cossacks 180,000 

2,000,000 

The United Service Magazine stated the actual forces 
of the Russian army at the beginning of 1877 as follows: 

Infantry, 682 battalions 679,000 

Reserve, 168 battalions 168,000 

Cavalry, 932 regiments 126,000 

Artillery, 346 batteries, 2,672 pieces . 87,000 
Sappers, engineers, etc., 17 battalions. 14,340 

Total 1,074,340 

To these are to be added, at least, for 

Cossack irregulars 100,000 

Total 1,174,340 

The report of the ministry of war for 1876, gives the 
nominal strength of the army on the war footing (which 
possibly included the troops in Finland, which are under 
a different military system, but excluded the Cossacks) 
at 39,380 officers, and 1,173,879 rank and file, men of all 
arms, making a total of 1,213,259. As, however, a con- 
siderable number of these troops must be employed in 
local, frontier, and garrison service, the United Service 
Magazine is probably correct in estimating the total of the 
active army at 907,000 men. 



DIVERSE RACES IN TURKEY. 



263 



II. The area and population, and the military, naval, 
and financial condition of Turkey next demand our at- 
tention. The area of the Turkish empire, though much 
less than that of European Russia, is yet nearly six times 
as large as that of any other European power, and the 
European portion of the empire occupies the sixth rank 
among the States of Europe. We have, however, to con- 
sider the whole Turkish empire, inasmuch as it is all 
involved in the war which commenced in April, 1877. 
The most recent authorities tell us that the entire area 
of the Turkish empire is estimated at 1,742,874 English 
square miles; of which 138,264 is the extent of Euro- 
pean Turkey; 660,870 the area of Asiatic Turkey, and 
943,740 that of African Turkey. The population of 
the empire is estimated at 28,165,000, though there has 
been no complete census taken for many years. Of 
these it is supposed that European Turkey has 8,315,- 
000, or about sixty persons to the square mile ; Asiatic 
Turkey, 16,050,000, about twenty-four to the square 
mile; and Turkey in Africa, 3,800,000, or about four to 
the square mile. 

This population is very far from being homogeneous. 
There are at least sixteen different races or nationali- 
ties, all rendering a nominal allegiance to the Sultan and 
the Ottoman Porte, though many of them entertain the 
most bitter hatred for each other. Of the eleven races 
found in European Turkey, Mr. Lawrence Oliphant, who 
has spent many years in that country, gives the follow- 
ing account : " We find here the following races and 
religions: (1) The Sclaves, who are in religion Greek, 
Catholic, and Mahometan; (2) the Hellenes, who are 
Greek with a few Catholics ; (3) the Latin tribes in Al- 
bania, who are Catholic, together with Albanians of the 
same region, who are Greek, Mahometan, and Catho- 



264 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



lie; (4) the Bulgars, who are Greek, Catholic, and Ma- 
hornet an ; (5) the Armenians, who are Gregorians and 
Catholics, the latter subdivided into Hassounites and 
anti-Hassounites ; (6) the Koutzo Wallacks, who are of 
gjpsy Wallachian origin, and are of the Greek Church ; 
(7) the Osrnanlis, who are Mahometans; (8) the Jews; 

(9) the Tartars, exiles from the Crimea, Mahometans; 

(10) the Circassians, exiles from Circassia, Mahometans ; 
and (11) ordinary gypsies. 

These eleven races hate each other on religious 
grounds in the following directions: The Catholic and 
Greek Sclaves of Bosnia and Herzegovina are in hot 
and constant antagonism; the Mahometan Sclave of the 
same provinces dislikes and despises both. The same 
kind of antagonism exists in Bulgaria, but the most in- 
veterate hatred is that which is felt by the Hellenes for 
the Sclaves, and vice versa. This is political as well as 
religious, and arises from the latent feeling that, should 
the Christian ever get the upper hand in Turkey in 
Europe, the real struggle for supremacy will be between 
these two races. The Hellenes entertain an antipathy 
for Catholics and Mahometans wherever they are found, 
second only to their hatred of the Sclave. Wherever 
the Catholics are numerous enough, they indulge chief- 
ly in persecution of the Greeks and Gregorian Arme- 
nians, naturally, also, abhorring the Mahometan. An 
intense feeling of bitterness exists between the Gre- 
gorian Armenians, who owe allegiance to the Patriarch 
at Etzmiazin, and the Catholic Armenians ; also between 
the Hassounites and anti-Hassounites. Christians of all 
these denominations oppress the Jews whenever they 
get a chance, and are cordially detested by the latter in 
return. The gypsies wander about, with their hands, in 
their small way, against every man. The Circassians 



c 

a 
!► 
d 
o 
> 

a 

w 



V 



DIVERSE RACES IN TURKEY. 



267 



are by no means quiet neighbors ; and the Mahometans, 
with tolerable impartiality, oppress everybody. 

The military condition of Turkey is not very satisfac- 
tory. The conflicting races and religions of which we 
have spoken compel her now, as in the past, to employ 
Mahometans only as soldiers ; the Christians and Pagans 
are liable to conscription, but are required to exempt 
themselves from service by the payment of a war-tax. 
Like Russia, she has recently been reorganizing her army, 
and the new system, when in working order, was expected 
to yield a nominal force of 702,000 troops, divided into, 

(1) the Nizam, or active army, of 150,000 men, who serve 
four years for infantry and five for cavalry and artillery ; 

(2) the Ihtiat, or first reserve, of 60,000 men, those who have 
served in the Nizam passing into this for two years, if in 
the infantry, or one year in cavalry and artillery. Thence 
they pass, (3) into the Hedif] or second reserve, which is 
divided into two classes, each of three years. The Redif, 
it was estimated, would number 192,000 men. After 
these twelve years of service the Turkish soldier passes 
(4) into the Mustafiz, or territorial militia, for eight years 
more, and this Mustafiz it was estimated would number 
300,000 men. There are also three classes of irregular 
troops, (1) the Bashi-bazouks, the scum and offscouring 
of the Oriental cities, gathered from the prisons, jails, 
and slums, the vilest wretches to be found, without mili- 
tary ability, knowledge, or courage, and fit only for the 
work of murder, lust, and rapine, in which they were en- 
gaged in the spring and summer of 1876 in Bulgaria; 
(2) the Spahis, volunteer cavalry, mostly Arabs, better 
than the preceding, and perhaps a fair match for the 
Cossacks of the Russian army ; and (3) the Bedouin, 
nomadic Arabs, mainly mounted on camels. 



268 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



The finances of Turkey are now, as they have been for 
some years, in a deplorable condition. Since 1850 there 
has been an annual deficit in her revenues. This deficit 
has often reached 35 to 40 millions of dollars. The ac- 
tual revenue of the year 1875-6 is said to have been only 
about $76,500,000, while the expenditure increased by 
the insurrection in Bosnia and Herzegovina, amounted to 
$162,000,000, or more than double the revenue. The 
deficit for the year ending February, 1877, was probably 
still greater. The national debt is known to exceed 
$1,075,000,000, and after reducing the interest one-half 
the government decided not to pay even that half. Under 
these circumstances, it hardly need be said, that Turkish 
credit abroad is not very good. The Porte has, however, 
one resource, which may help it for a time. As the Sul- 
tan has proclaimed this a holy war, he has a right to call 
upon the mosques, which are most of them rich, to furnish 
him the means to carry on the war, and they will not re- 
fuse.* This provision may sustain his armies for a time, 
but if the war is protracted it must end in the complete 
bankruptcy of the nation. Of their national debt, from 
$750,000,000 to $800,000,000 is held in Great Britain. 



* Since this was written, the Scherif of Mecca has placed at the disposal of 
the Sultan for this " Holy War" the accumulated treasures of the Kaaba — the 
holiest of Moslem shrines— which are said to amount to $50,000,000. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



DIPLOMATIC EFFOETS TO AYEET WAE. 

The longest period which had elapsed without war 
between Russia and Turkey, during the past three cen- 
turies, was that between the war of 1829-30 and the 
Crimean war, which commenced in October or November, 
1853, and though that war was not specially favorable to 
Russian arms, the exhaustion which it produced, and the 
great changes involved in the emancipation of the serfs, 
had served to keep Russia quiet for a period of nearly 
twenty years, when events occurred which indicated the 
approach of another conflict between the two powers. 

Yet it is an undoubted fact, that in the beginning of 
1876, notwithstanding the then recent insurrection and 
outrages in Bosnia and the Herzegovina, and the threat- 
ening attitude of Servia, Roumania, and Montenegro, 
neither of the two nations wanted war, or at least, imme- 
diate war. Not Russia, for her army had so recently 
been reorganized, and its administration and commissariat 
were in such an inchoate condition, that immediate war 
for her meant defeat ; nor were her finances, though im- 
proving, in a healthy state ; and war, just then, meant 
bankruptcy. Not Turkey — for the administration of the 
weak and imbecile Abd-ul Aziz was drawing to a close; 
the finances could not be in a w T orse condition than they 
were; her European provinces w r ere just ready for in- 
surrection, and though her Asiatic Vilayets were in 

269 



270 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



somewhat better condition, yet the war could not be 
confined to them ; so for her, war meant national de- 
struction. Austria, alarmed for the navigation of the 
Danube, and the uprising of her Sclavonic population in 
the event of war, on the one side, and the sympathy of 
the Magyars with the Turks, on the other, was averse 
to war, which would drain her already impecunious 
treasury, and set back the tide of progress just begin- 
ning to rise, was heartily averse to war. 

England had had enough of helping the Turk in the 
Crimean war, and, though her people were divided in 
sympathy, part favoring the Kussians, as a Christian 
against an infidel power, and part the Turk, as largely 
England's debtor, but liable to fall into everlasting 
bankruptcy, if plunged in war, was opposed to a conflict. 
France, though with much less at stake than in former 
wars, was averse to war, because she believed it would 
imperil her interest in the Suez Canal and in Syria, and 
because if she sided with Turkey, Germany, her late foe, 
would side with the Czar, and there would be a renewal 
of the old conflict between her and Germany, for which 
she w^as not yet prepared. 

Neither Germany nor Italy were desirous of war, 
which they believed would kindle a general conflagra- 
tion throughout Europe. All parties being thus, from 
a diversity of causes, opposed to war, it would seem to 
have been an easy task to prevent its occurence. 

Something must be done, said the diplomatists; and 
accordingly Count Julius Andrassy, the Premier of 
Austria, one of the ablest of the continental statesmen, 
undertook, on the 25th of January, 1876, to draw up a 
note to the two powers, or rather to the Ottoman Porte, 
demanding certain reforms from Turkey, and promising 
to sustain her, if she would institute these reforms. 



MEASURES PROPOSED. 



271 



The full text of this note is not accessible ; but the 
following were the measures which it proposed for paci- 
fication : 

1. Keligious liberty, full and entire. 

2. Abolition of the farming of taxes. 

3. A law to guarantee that the direct taxation of Bos- 
nia and the Herzegovina should be employed for the im- 
mediate interests of the province. 

3. A special commission, composed of an equal number 
of Mussulmans and Christians, to superintend the execu- 
tion of the reforms proclaimed and proposed. 

5. The amelioration of the condition of the rural pop- 
ulation. 

The representatives of the six powers, under instruc- 
tions from their governments, supported these measures 
of reform, before the Porte, all of them very heartily, ex- 
cept the English minister, Sir Henry Elliot, who, acting 
evidently under secret instructions, expressed his belief 
that they would amount to nothing, and his fear that 
they trenched upon the right of the Ottoman Porte to 
manage its own affairs, without foreign interference. The 
Grand Vizier, Midhat Pasha, did not reject them, but re- 
plied to the Ambassadors, that he was preparing a Con- 
stitution which would, he believed, embody these and 
other measures of reform. 

The outline of the constitution of Midhat Pasha was 
published about the 1st of May, 1876, but it had received 
only the conditional approval of the Sultan, whose mind 
had became so much affected, that he had lost his influ- 
ence with the people ; and there was very little hope, 
and as events soon proved, very little ground for hope, 
that any of these reforms would be thoroughly maintain- 
ed. It was during the next two weeks that those horri- 
ble massacres and outrages occurred in Bulgaria, which 



272 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



demonstrated that all barriers of reform or law would go 
down before the infuriated passions of the Turk and his 
fanatical hatred of the Christian. On the 14th of May, 
1876, the representatives of Russia, Austria, Hungary, 
and Germany, met at Berlin, without any knowledge of 
the massacres, and desirous of sustaining the good inten- 
tions of the Grand Vizier, agreed upon the paper known 
as the " Berlin Memorandum," which provided for a 
guaranty by the great powers of the several reforms, 
which had been already proclaimed, but were not yet put 
in practice. Five of the great powers signed the Memo- 
randum, but Great Britain refused, on the ground " that 
it must obviously and inevitably lead to the military occu- 
pation of Turkey." The action of the British Ministry, 
at this time greatly encouraged the Turks, and gave them, 
very naturally, the impression that Great Britain sympa- 
thized with them and would help them to subjugate the 
Christian races. The British Minister at first professed 
ignorance in regard to the horrors in Bulgaria; then 
thought the Bulgarians were as much to blame as the 
Turks — the lamb as the wolf that devoured him — at last, 
compelled to acknowledge the enormity of the conduct of 
the Turks, he thought they had been greatly provoked 
by the Russian emissaries. The British Mediterranean 
fleet was ordered up to Besika Bay, the Turks said, to 
protect them; the English Minister, that it was necessary 
to protect English subjects. After two or three week3 
it was sent back a«;ain to its former harbor. 

"When it became evident that there was no hope from 
notes or memorandums, the British government suggested 
a conference of the powers which had been parties to the 
treaty of Paris, to meet at Constantinople in December, 
187G; and, in order to open a way for this conference, 
proposed an armistice of six weeks between Turkey and 



PEELIMINAEY COXFEEEXCE. 



273 



Servia. The Turkish government proposed six months. 
The Eussian government demanded an immediate armis- 
tice of from four to six weeks, and threatened to break 
off diplomatic relations at once if it was not granted. 
The Turkish government complied with the demand. 
The Emperor Alexander in an interview with the British 
Minister, November 2d, 1876, pledged his sacred word of 
honor in the most earnest and solemn manner, that he had 
no intention of acquiring Constantinople, and that if ne- 
cessity should oblige him to occupy a portion of Bulgaria, 
it would only be provisionally. 

The preliminary conference at Constantinople was 
opened on the 11th December, and was participated in 
by representatives from Great Britain, France, Eussia, 
Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Italy. The Marquis 
of Salisbury, one of the ablest of British statesmen, and 
the chief representative of Great Britain there, thus 
defined the purposes of the conference, and its failure to 
accomplish any satisfactory results, in a speech in the 
House of Lords. After speaking of previous treaties and 
the changes which had taken place, both in Turkey and 
Great Britain, and which prevented the latter from main- 
taining exactly the same attitude toward Turkey which 
she did in 1856, he went on to say: " If the alliance was 
broken up, if our exertions for the maintenance of the 
Ottoman' Empire were to cease, assuredly it was our 
part to struggle to the last, against a change which 
forced upon us a new and unexpected interpretation of a 
treaty,* by which our country was pledged; assuredly, it 
was our duty to exhaust appeal, remonstrance, exhorta- 
tion, before deserting a cause we had hitherto maintained : 
and if we had taken any other course, however deep the 
guilt of the Turks, however low you may put their intel- 
ligence, they would have had fair ground of complaint 
against this country, 



274 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



" We had changed as far as events compelled us ; but 
we had not changed our traditional policy, without hesita- 
tion and without sorrow ; and we still clung to the hope 
that some alteration would occur in the councils of Tur- 
key, which would bring that alliance back to the same 
state as it was before. Now, my lords, that was the ex- 
planation of the reason why we went into the conference, 
— distinctly not as a preliminary to force, but as a means 
of peaceful persuasion. That being so, it necessarily fol- 
lowed, that Eussia was the motive-power of the confer- 
ence. That is not the way in which I should prefer to 
phrase it ; but at the same time I do not deny that it is 
absolutely true, in a sense. It is true that we went into 
the conference, first of all, to restore peace between 
Turkey and Servia, and then to obtain a government for 
the Turkish Provinces ; but, undoubtedly, we also went 
to stop a great and menacing danger, namely, the pros- 
pect of a war between Russia and the Porte. This, 
then, being the evil which we came to avert, it naturally 
was in pointing out that evil, that our moral influence on 
the Porte rested. We said to Turkey, < Unless you do 
this or that, this terrible danger, which may well in- 
volve the loss of your empire, is ready to fall upon you. 
We hope that our influence and advice may be able to 
avert it ; indeed we come here for that purpose : but we 
warn you that we shall accept no responsibility for the 
future, if you treat our advice with disdain.' Undoubt- 
edly it was in this sense true that the fear of the result 
of a rupture of the congress — the fear of a breach with 
Eussia — was the motive-force of the conference. It 
seems to me, as it must to everybody else, that the re- 
fusal of the Turk is a mystery; for the infatuation of 
that course seems to be so tremendous." 

After the failure of the conference at Constantinople, 



THE PROTOCOL SIGNED. 



275 



Prince Gortschakoff issued a circular, in which, after re- 
citing what had taken place, he said, " It is necessary for 
us to know what the cabinets, with which we have 
hitherto acted in common, propose to do, with a view of 
meeting this refusal, and insuring the execution of their 
wishes." 

But, before any response had been made to this re- 
quest for information, the Russian government, fearing 
that it might be embarrassed, if the other governments 
should not agree, prepared a protocol, which, after some 
verbal amendments, was signed by the representatives of 
the six powers, at London, on the 31st of March, 1877. 
After taking cognizance of the peace which had recently 
been concluded between Turkey and Servia, and taking 
cognizance, also, of the good intentions of the Porte, as 
shown in its declarations made from time to time during 
the past year, the protocol invited the Porte to place its 
army on a peace-footing, and then declared, that " the 
powers propose to watch carefully, by means of their 
representatives at Constantinople, and their local agents, 
the manner in which the promises of the Ottoman gov- 
ernment are carried into effect. 

" If their hopes should once more be disappointed, and 
if the condition of the Christian subjects of the Sultan 
should not be improved in such a manner as to prevent the 
return of the complications which periodically disturb the 
peace of the East, they think it right to declare that such 
a state of affairs would be incompatible with their inter- 
ests, and those of Europe in general. In such case, they 
reserve to themselves to consider in common as to the 
means which they may deem best fitted to secure the 
well-being of the Christian populations, and the interests 
of the general peace." 



276 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



On affixing his signature, the Eussian ambassador filed 
the following declaration : 

"If peace with Montenegro is concluded, and the 
Porte accepts the advice of Europe, and shows itself 
ready to replace its forces on a peace-footing, and seri- 
ously to undertake the reforms mentioned in the proto- 
col, let it send to St. Petersburg a special envoy to treat 
of disarmament, to which his Majesty, the Emperor, 
would also, on his part, consent. 

"If massacres similar to those which have stained 
Bulgaria with blood take place, this would necessarily 
put a stop to the measures of demobilization." 

If Turkey had been desirous of peace, there could 
have been no hesitation in giving its assent to these, not 
unwarrantable, demands. But the war-party evidently 
had the ascendancy in the councils of the divan ; and the 
protocol was rejected. The Ottoman Porte stood upon 
its dignity, and with an audacity which, under other' 
circumstances, would have been sublime, appealed to its 
own pure record, and the Treaty of Paris, as justifying 
its indignant rejection of these last offers of peace. A 
counter-declaration was made, in which the signatory 
powers were notified (1) that, adopting toward Mon- 
tenegro the same line of conduct which brought about 
the pacification of Servia, the Sublime Porte sponta- 
neously informed the prince, two months ago, that it 
would spare no effort to arrive at an understanding 
with him, even at the price of certain sacrifices; (2) 
that the Imperial government was prepared to adopt 
all the promised reforms; but those reforms, in con- 
formity with the fundamental provisions of the consti. 
tution, could not have a special or exclusive character, 
and it was in that spirit that the Imperial government, 
in its full and entire liberty, would continue to apply its 



THE CZAE'S MANIFESTO. 



277 



instructions; (3) that Turkey was ready to place its 
armies on a peace-footing as soon as it saw the Eussian 
government take measures to the same end ; (4) with 
regard to the disturbances which might break out in 
Turkey, and stop the demobilization of the Eussian army, 
the Turkish government repelled the injurious terms in 
which the idea had been expressed, and stated its belief 
that Europe was convinced that the recent disturbances 
were due to foreign instigation, i. e. y Eussia's ; (5) con- 
cerning the despatch of the special envoy to St. Peters- 
burg to treat on the question of disarmament, the Impe- 
rial government, which would have no reason to refuse 
an act of courtesy, reciprocally required by diplomatic 
usages, perceives no connection between that act of inter- 
national courtesy and the disarmament, which there was 
no plausible motive for delaying, and which might be 
carried into effect by a single telegraphic order. 

When the Turkish ambassador in London called 
upon Earl Derby, on the 12th of April, to deliver the 
above circular, the British Minister of foreign affairs 
expressed his deep regrets at the view the Porte had 
taken, and said he could not see what further steps 
England could take, to avert the war which appeared to 
be inevitable. 

On the 24th April (K S.) the Czar, who was at 
Kischeneff with the army, issued his manifesto, in which 
he said : 

"For two years we have made incessant efforts to 
induce the Porte to effect such reforms as would protect 
the Christians in Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Bulgaria, 
from the arbitrary measures of the local authorities. 
The accomplishment of these reforms was absolutely 
stipulated, by anterior engagements contracted by the 
Porte to the whole of Europe. Our efforts, supported 



278 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



"by diplomatic representations made in common by the 
other governments, have not, however, attained their 
object. The Porte has remained unshaken in its formal 
refusal of any effective guaranty for the security of its 
Christian subjects, and has rejected the conclusions of 
the Constantinople conference. Wishing to essay every 
possible means of conciliation, in order to persuade the 
Porte, we proposed to the other cabinets to draw up a 
special protocol, comprising the most essential conditions 
of the Constantinople conference, and to invite the 
Turkish government to adhere to this international act, 
which states the extreme limits of our peaceful demands. 
But our expectation was not fulfilled. The Porte did 
not defer to this unanimous wish of Christian Europe, 
and did not adhere to the conclusions of the protocol. 
Having exhausted pacific efforts, we are compelled, by the 
haughty obstinacy of the Porte, to proceed to more de- 
cisive acts, feeling that equity and our own dignity 
enjoin it. By her refusal, Turkey places us under the 
necessity of having recourse to arms. Profoundly con- 
vinced of the justice of our cause, and humbly commit- 
ting ourselves to the grace and help of the Most High, 
we make known to our faithful subjects, that the moment 
foreseen, when we pronounced words to which all Rus- 
sia responded with complete unanimity, has now arrived. 
We expressed the intention to act independently when 
we deemed it necessary, and when Russia's honor should 
demand it. And now, invoking the blessing of God 
upon our valiant armies, we give them the order to cross 
the Turkish frontier." 



CHAPTER IX. 

MONTENEGRO AND SERVIA IN 1876. 

Montenegro could not be a disinterested spectator of 
the uprising of her neighbors of the Herzegovina and 
Bosnia, nor could she long restrain her interest sufficiently 
to maintain the attitude of a spectator. Servia, though 
not, like the free Tzerna-Gora, an independent princi- 
pality, had never been a contented vassal of the Ottoman 
Empire, but had ever cherished fond dreams of regaining 
the independence and, indeed, the domain which had been 
hers ; for more than a half-century the very children had 
well-learned the lesson that " Servia must be free !" while 
the sages of the land had scarce been able to restrain the 
ardor of the youth, or even of the middle-aged, and to 
teach them patiently to "bide the time" when their oppor- 
tunity should offer or might be created. Russia was 
directly, though not as yet openly, the author of the first 
bold movement of the Bosnians and Herzegovinians. Her 
apparent hesitation for nearly two years in openly taking 
part in the conflict, it is now evident, was but well-con- 
sidered diplomacy; she intended to fight, but preferred 
that Turkey should force her to do so. A too precipitate 
declaration of war on her part, or even an apparent influ- 
ence exerted upon the provinces and principalities, would 
bring into peril her relations with the great powers. She 
did not desire the assistance of Germany or Austria, for as 
an ally either would share, not only the credit, but the 

279 



280 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



substantial fruits of her anticipated triumph over Turkey ; 
but she desired still less to have either of these arrayed 
against her as an ally of Turkey. England gave the Czar 
no concern whatever, for he believed that England's fight- 
ing days were past, and that however much she might 
fume and fret and attitudinize, she would only fight under 
compulsion, and with assistance from one or more allies ; 
he knew, too, that France and Italy were fully employed 
with, to them, far more important matters. In short, Rus- 
sia was determined to fight, but was equally determined 
that that determination should not be known ; Servia wanted 
to fight, but was prudently cautious not to let it be known ; 
Montenegro wanted to fight and did not care who knew it — 
indeed, it was no secret from the Turks or anybody else 
that Montenegro always wanted to fight the Turks; but 
Montenegro knew that, in the present exigency, it was 
essential that she should have the co-operation of Servia. 

The Bosnian and Herzegovinian insurrection began 
early in 1875, the Bulgarian uprising and massacres oc- 
cured in May, 1876; Montenegro and Servia declared war on 
the 1st of July, 1876, while Russia delayed that step until 
the 24th of April, 1877, though she betrayed her readi- 
ness to do so as early as October 28th-31st, 1876, when she 
sent her famous 48-hour notice to the Porte — a notice that 
would have precipitated war with any other nation — to 
which no other nation, not even excepting England, would 
have deferred, but which the Turks abjectly obeyed. It 
must be borne in mind, too, that among the " insurgents " 
of Bosnia and the Herzegovina, from the first there were 
conspicuous a large number of Montenegrins and not a few 
Servians ; that the Commander-in-Chief, a large proportion 
of the officers and a considerable number of the men of the 
Servian Army were Russians ; and that the Montenegrin 
Army was not Russian to any extent in its organization was 



THE WAR-MANIFESTOES OF NICHOLAS AND MILAN. 281 

due to the noble self-dependence of that plucky little na- 
tion of heroes. 

Montenegro and Servia commenced hostilities on Sat- 
urday, the 1st of July, 1876, the armies of each hav- 
ing been organized and mobilized previously, so that 
they were moving " to the front " actually before the for- 
mal declaration had been forwarded to the Porte. The 
latter had not been less early, or perhaps we may say pre- 
mature, in its preparations to meet the armies of the prin- 
cipalities. A week prior to the " declaration," the Grand 
Vizier had sent a pacific letter to Prince Nicholas, of Mon- 
tenegro, and the Prince had deferred his answer until now 
when he sent his " declaration of war." His manifesto was 
a manly announcement of the grounds upon which he had 
acted. Prince Milan was no less outspoken in his mani- 
festo communicating to the Ottoman Government the de- 
claration of war on the part of Servia. 

These two manifestoes were exceedingly able state 
papers, worthy of eminent diplomatists, and one can 
scarcely avoid the conclusion that some of Russia's un- 
rivaled diplomacy must have inspired the writers. They 
alike threw the entire onus of the war upon the Turkish 
Government, and insured for the principalities the sym- 
pathy, if not the good-wishes for their success, of all 
nations and all peoples. 

Prince Nicholas promptly, and, as a matter of course, 
without any explanation or parade, took the command of 
the Montenegrin Army ; the sub-commanders and subordi- 
nate officers of the army, and fully five-sevenths of the 
rank and file, were natives of the " Black Mountains," the 
remaining two-sevenths being volunteer Croatian s, Dalma- 
tians and other Slavs from the Austrian provinces, who 
preferred to serve the common cause in the Montenegrin 
ranks rather than in those of Servia, simply because the 



282 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



former were exclusively commanded by native Monte- 
negrins. 

The Servians placed the Russian General Tchernayeff, 
who had come to them with the strongest of credentials 
as a great and successful military chieftain, in chief 
command of their forces, though Prince Milan, as a true, 
brave Serb, went to the front and bore himself man- 
fully both the hardships and the perils of the army. We 
understand clearly that it was owing to the Prince's youth 
and inexperience that he did not assume the post of Com- 
mander-in-Chief, and yet we cannot but believe that it was 
a serious mistake to permit him to yield his rightful rank, 
especially to a foreigner ; there can be no doubt but that 
the Serbs would have displayed more enthusiasm, if not 
more actual bravery, under their Prince's leadership than 
they did led by the Kussian general, while his youth 
and inexperience could have been provided for by his 
selection of an older and experienced soldier as chief of 
staff. The frequent, almost continuous succession of, dis- 
asters which mark the Servian portion of the war, and 
which appear the more discreditable when viewed in con- 
trast with the Montenegrin record, were due, we firmly 
believe, not to inefficiency on the part of Tchernayeff, or 
lack of bravery on the part of the Servian soldiers, nor 
yet to superior generalship or numbers on the part of the 
Turks, but entirely to the want of enthusiasm, of that kind 
of intense devotion which the Montenegrins constantly 
displayed towards their chief, on the part of the native 
Servian troops. 

The Servian forces were organized into four Grand Di- 
visions, leaving a reserve or garrison at Belgrade ; these 
divisions were designated : 

1. The Army of the South, comprising about 25,000 
Servians, a Bosnian "army" of 8,000 and a considerable 



THE SERVIAN ARMY CORPS. 



283 



number of Russian volunteers, aggregating, perhaps, not 
far from 40,000 men, commanded in person by the 
Commander-in-Chief. 

2. The Army of the Western Morava, about 30,000 
strong, Prince Milan being the nominal commander, with 
the brother of Prince Nicholas, the Archimandrite Du- 
chies and other able officers on his staff, while the Austrian 
General Franz von Zach, in the important position of 
chief of staff, was virtually, as he proved actually, the 
commander. 

3. The Army of the Drina, consisting of 25,000 men, 
chiefly Servians, but assisted by bands of Bosnians, num- 
bering in all about 4,000, distributed in the towns along the 
boundary, with orders to hold these towns until attacked 
by a large body of Turks, and then retire and spread the 
alarm to adjacent villages. This division was commanded 
by General Banko Olirnpics (or Alimpics). 

4. The Army of the Timok, of about 20,000 Servians, 
under the command of General Leschjanin. 

On Saturday (the 1st), at about noon, the streets of Bel- 
grade were swarming with the excited populace, eager to 
see their Prince, in warlike guise, start for the seat of war ; 
in front of the palace, the two vans which constituted the 
reserve or garrison, were drawn up in the form of a square; 
into their midst rode the Prince and his staff : the enthu- 
siasm was unbounded among both soldiers and civilians 
upon beholding their gallant young ruler and his gallant 
cavalcade with harness on ready for the fray. Prince 
Milan made a brief, patriotic farewell address, of which a 
single sentence has appeared in all the newspaper reports, 
and is sufficiently characteristic to claim repetition here : 
"Soldiers and people of Servia, I leave this capital to join 
the valiant army awaiting me on the frontier, and which 
will aid me to fight victoriously the traditional enemy of 



284 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



my country and my religion. People and soldiers of Ser- 
via, adieu till after victory ! " The Prince's words were 
not in excess of his hopes or of his patriotic spirit, and, 
though his anticipations were sadly disappointed, it was 
through no fault of his, except, possibly, the fault of per- 
mitting another, and he a foreigner, to hold the official 
position which was his by right. 

On Sunday and Monday, July 2d and 3d, the several 
divisions of the army moved across the border, boldly, if not 
rashly, assuming the offensive against a foe that, not only 
far outnumbered the Servian forces at each point threat- 
ened, but was likewise strongly intrenched — it is not to 
be wondered at that they were soon compelled to fall back 
upon the defensive. The only movements on Sunday con- 
sisted in the crossing of a portion of General Tchernayeff 's 
Division near Supovatz, towards Nissa, and the advance of 
General Leschjanin's Division towards Widdin. Nissa 
was the most important strategic point near the boundary 
between Servia and Bulgaria, being at the intersection of 
the main road from Constantinople to Belgrade with the 
road from Widdin to Novi-Bazar, and fortified and gar- 
risoned according to its importance; it was not Tchernayeff's 
purpose to attempt the capture of Nissa, at least for some 
time, and he was content to place a detachment, under 
General Paulo Georgevics, upon the heights of Topolnitza, 
and another, under General Milutin Jovanovics, in occu- 
pancy of Setzenitza and Dadulaitz — the latter was resisted 
by a Turkish detachment, which it readily overcame, and 
succeeded in holding the points named. The next day, 
Tchernayeff attacked a Turkish force at Babina-Glava, and, 
after a severe three-hours' fight, dispersed it. General 
Leschjanin, leaving a small force of picked men to hold 
Saitchar, on the western shore of the Timok, advanced 
towards Widdin, but had not gone far when- he met a large 



FIGHTING BEGUN. 



285 



body of the army of Osman Pasha, marching on the same 
road from Widdin to the Servian border ; a severe fight 
ensued and the Turks were driven back into Widdin, the 
Servians occupying a number of the small towns in the 
vicinity ; but they were, on Monday, driven out of these 
by a superior force and compelled to recross the Timok 
into Saitchar, where they made a determined stand, suc- 
cessfully repulsing repeated assaults by a very much supe- 
rior force, but the Turks, having received heavy reinforce- 
ments, Leschjanin determined to retire from Saitchar, falling 
back to the heights of Gohibinie. The Turks had been 
so severely punished, however, that they did not attempt 
pursuit, and, on the ensuing day, returned to the east of 
the river. 

On the 3d, General Olimpics crossed the Drina and 
marched to Belina, which was held by Turkish regulars ; 
he immediately opened a furious cannonade, and towards 
evening stormed the works, driving the enemy back into 
the town ; the Servians, having entered the works, could 
not be restrained, but pushed bravely, though rashly, in 
pursuit ; the Turks, taking shelter in the houses, poured a 
most destructive fire into the Servian ranks, which pro- 
duced a momentary panic, whereupon the Turks issued 
from their shelter and charged with such fury that the 
Servians were, in turn, driven from the works, and the 
victory rested with the Turks. These had suffered so 
severely, however, that they evacuated, not only Belina, 
but also Zvornik and the entire west bank of the Drina, 
as far south as Kutziar, retaining only Srebernitza and 
Klolnitza of all their fortified towns on the Drina. 

On Monday, also, the Army of the Western Morava 
crossed into the pashalik of Novi-Bazar, marching to a 
point near Sienitza, where they halted to await the move- 
ments of General TchernayefF around Nissa. 



286 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



Thus, we have seen the entire Servian Army of Opera- 
tions in motion — all across the border, and one Division 
alone, and that the least important for the aggressive plan 
of TchernayefF, seriously repulsed and compelled to fall 
back into a defensive position within the Servian boundary. 

The aggressive attempts of the Servians were limited to 
so short a period, that we leave the movements of the more 
daring and more successful Montenegrins until after the 
brief record of their allies. 

General Olimpics appears to have been satisfied with the 
withdrawal of the enemy from his immediate front, and to 
have made no demonstrations either westward or south- 
ward ; he placed a detachment in Pacsa, at the junction of 
the Drina and Save, and occupied the towns fortified and 
evacuated by the Turks. General Leschjanin, after the 
retirement of the Turks from the Servian bank of the 
Timok, re-occupied Saitchar, and extended his line south 
to Gurgussovatz, where he joined the line of the main 
Division. 

We have before spoken of the importance of Nish, or 
Nissa, in a strategic point of view ; the Turks had so far 
realized this that they had spared neither skill nor care in 
its fortification, and had concentrated within the works a 
large army, estimated at 40,000 men, almost exclusively 
regulars, with Eyoub Pasha in command. At Widdin, 
though of comparatively no value in itself in this cam- 
paign, except as affording a strong position for their ex- 
treme right, they had a force of upwards of 30,000 under 
Osman Pasha. The extreme left of their line of direct 
advance upon Servia rested at Novi-Bazar, where they had 
upwards of 20,000, commanded by Mehemet Ali. We 
have said, too, that General Tchernayeff did not propose, 
for some time, to attempt the capture of E"issa ; it is prob- 
able the movement of General Leschjanin towards Wid- 




A PASS IN THE KARA-DAGH (MONTENEGRO). 



SERIOUS MISTAKE OF GENERAL VON ZACH. 287 

din was intended to be only a demonstration, and that the 
movement of General von Zach towards Novi-Bazar was a 
demonstration, with the intention of making it a serious 
advance should it prove practicable. Simultaneously with 
these demonstrations, Tchernayeff sent a large detachment 
to threaten Nissa from the north, and another from the 
west, while he concentrated the main strength of his divi- 
sion at Gurgussovatz, and marched thence, with great 
rapidity, along the valley of the Nissava, to Ak-Palanka 
(or Mustafa Palanka), which he captured, July 4th, after 
a short but severe battle, and thence to Pirot (or Sharkoi), 
which the garrison evacuated, fleeing towards Sophia, with- 
out replying to the Servian fire ; having secured these im- 
portant points on the Constantinople-Belgrade road, Pirot 
being exactly equidistant from the fortress of Nissa and 
its base of supplies at Sophia, Tchernayeff strengthened 
the Turkish works and rested, awaiting the result of the 
operations of the other divisions, which he had planned 
with unquestionable skill ; there can be little doubt, nay, 
there can be none, but that, had General von Zach suc- 
ceeded in taking Novi-Bazar, and advanced upon Nissa 
from that direction, while Tchernayeff advanced from the 
south, with Alexinatz strongly garrisoned, and Leschjanin 
just beyond ready to intercept relief from Widdin, the re- 
duction of Nissa would have been assured. In accordance 
with Tchernayeff's plans, von Zach, with 15,000 men from 
the Army of the Western Morava, made a vigorous assault 
upon Sienitza on the 6th, gallantly drove the enemy from 
the works, and, with rash precipitancy, pursued them to 
within a short distance of Novi-Bazar, where he was met 
by an overwhelming body of Turks and driven backwards 
into and through Sienitza, not only losing all that he had 
gained, but sacrificing the campaign ; that he and his men 
displayed exemplary bravery is attested by the fact that he 



288 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



lost in killed alone one-tenth of his entire force ; but to 
advance against Novi-Bazar, with its massive and exten- 
sive works and its garrison of 20,000, with but 15,000 
men, especially when he could as well have taken 25,000, 
was criminal folly in an officer of von Zach's experience 
and ability. Just at the right moment to have rendered 
timely assistance had the main attack reached Novi-Bazar 
itself, Colonel Cziolokantics crossed the border, at Kravit- 
cha, with 5,000 men and actually penetrated the outworks 
from the east. The severe repulse from Novi-Bazar com- 
pletely crushed the spirit of the Servians — at least, their 
Prince appears to have lost his brave selfhood for the 
time. This was their first serious reverse, and its cause 
must have been obvious to him, had he been less hasty in 
requiring Tchernayeff to relinquish the offensive. The 
reverse was by no means irreparable, and the course for a 
brave ruler and a brave people, as the Prince and the Ser- 
vians indubitably proved themselves at all other times, 
both before and after this moment of supreme trial, to 
have taken would have been to have gone bravely to work 
to repair damages. Had Tchernayeff been permitted to 
hold his positions at Ak-Palanka and Pirot, and the 
Army of the Western Morava, reinforced, if need were, 
from the inactive Army of the Drina, been hurled en masse 
against Novi-Bazar, it is more than possible the campaign 
would have ended in glory, instead of shame, for the truly 
noble Prince and principality ! 

However this might have been, the fact is, Tchernayeff 
was commanded to return into Servia, and from this time 
the Servians stood on the defensive. Besides the evidence 
already given above, that General Tchernayeff was in no 
degree chargeable with the sad history of the rest of the war, 
in so far as the Servians were concerned, it must be recorded 
that on the same day that von Zach attacked Sienitza, the 



THE SERVIANS ON THE DEFENSIVE. 



289 



Servian detachments around Nissa made threatening de- 
monstrations against that fortress, one of which resulted in 
a fight at Blatza, in which the Servians were victorious, 
capturing several standards and some arms. 

On the 10th, General Tchernayeff, in obedience to per- 
emptory orders, withdrew from Pirot and Ak-Palanka, and 
retreated to Gurgussovatz; General von Zach remained 
partly beyond the border, his line extending from Klad- 
nitza, without, to Sasi, within, where he was well posted 
and intrenched. That this was a mistake, and there was 
considerable time yet to have corrected it, is evident from 
the fact that nearly three weeks elapsed before the Turks 
could muster sufficient courage seriously to assume the 
offensive, being content in the interim to make two or three 
feeble incursions across the frontier. One of these was on 
the 12th, when a strong force attacked General Leschjanin, 
on the Timok, forcing him back from Halwadjie and 
Guisova, but being handsomely repulsed from Bregova, and 
glad to escape from the towns captured. Another was on 
the 17th, when a detachment from Srebernitza, moving up 
the valley of the little river Kerchevitza, attacked the 
town of Liubounia, only to be sent flying back over the 
Drina. Another against Mokragora, met with a worse 
fate, being driven back to Vishegrad with heavy loss. 

But at length it became evident that the Turks had re- 
ceived large reinforcements and more were still arriving, 
that the army had been re-organized and that an immediate 
effort was to be made to enter Servia, simultaneously, by 
Suleiman Pasha at the head of one column, moving against 
Gurgussovatz, by Eyoub Pasha at the head of a second 
column, moving against Alexinatz, and by Osman Pasha, at 
the head of a third column, moving against Saitchar, while 
a fourth column threatened the western frontier. To meet 
these imminent perils the Servian Army was consolidated 
19 



290 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



into two Grand Divisions, commanded, the first by General 
Tchernayeff, and the second by General Olimpics. The 
first was placed to guard the frontier from the mouth of 
the Timok to Alexinatz, and the second guarded the 
borders on the west and south. 

On Saturday, July 29th, the Turks assumed the offen- 
sive all along the frontier, from Alexinatz to Bregova, 
and, though the Servians on the same day made a strong 
movement against Novi-Bazar, the Turks refused to be 
diverted from their great purpose. It is not worth the 
space to give the details, and it must suffice to say that, 
although the 1 Servians fought with intrepid bravery, and 
manfully withstood the invaders, they were literally crushed 
by overwhelming numbers and the Turks were victorious. 
The heaviest assault was upon the important town of 
Gurgussovatz, where the Servians made a brave but boot- 
less resistance, their force being almost annihilated by 
Suleiman's superior numbers. 

The only shame that can be laid to Prince Milan, or the 
Servians, must be on account of the relinquishing of the 
offensive attitude in consequence of a single serious reverse 
— none, whatever, can be charged on the score of their ter- 
rible disasters when overcome by overwhelming numbers, 
numbers exceeding theirs by four to one, and at some 
points by six or seven to one ; on the other hand, the fact 
that, against such odds, the gallant little army made so de- 
termined a stand and inflicted such telling blows, as once to 
compel the Turks to change their line of advance, and ul- 
timately to delay the final peril of the capital from the 
last of July to the last of October, when the noble prompt- 
ness of Russia alone stopped the advance of the Moslem 
hordes upon Belgrade. In this interval, it is true, there 
was a brief breathing spell, in the way of an armistice, but 
this was the result of England's interference, and aided the 




ENTERTAINMENT OF SIR HENRY ELLIOTT. 




ACHMED PASHA RECONNOITERING GURGUSOVACZ. 



MONTENEGRO'S GLOKIOUS ACHIEVEMENTS. 293 



Turks more than it did the Servians by enabling them to 
forward supplies from Nissa to their invading army. 

The Montenegrin Prince and the noble little princi- 
pality alone achieved glory in the war of 1876, and, indeed, 
the entire history of the war, so far as they made it, is a 
history of glorious achievements, with scarcely a serious 
check and no actual reverse. 

Prince Nicholas led one Grand Division of his army 
in person into the Herzegovina, while General Viskotitich 
was assigned the command of the other, the insurgent 
chief, Peko Petrovich, being associated with him as a sort 
of coadjutor — this second Division was sent to operate in 
the Scutari district. 

Prince Nicholas was joined, upon entering the Herzego- 
vina, by a Herzegovinian Corps of 6,000 men, organized 
expressly to serve under him. There were, already, several 
bodies of insurgent Herzegovinians and Bosnians in the 
field, including a large body at Nevesinje, and a larger 
about Niksics, which was occupied by a Turkish force of 
10,000 to 15,000, and was invested by 8,000 to 9,000 " in- 
surgents." Prince Nicholas immediately pressed forward to 
occupy the road from Klek to Stolatz, and General Visko- 
titich invested Medun. The original plan arranged by the 
two Princes had been, that Nicholas should press the 
Turks in the Herzegovina, fight and vanquish them as expe- 
ditiously as possible, or, if they, as was their wont in the face 
of a daring, intrepid foe, declined battle, he was to push them 
across the border into Bosnia, and by a rapid movement to 
the westward get in to the south of the Turkish positions 
at Sienitza and Novi-Bazar, in the event of these succes- 
fully repulsing the proposed Servian attack upon them; 
whereupon, while the Montenegrins distressed the enemy 
upon the south, the Servians were to make a second assault 
from the north-west; upon the anticipated fall of Novi- 



294 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Bazar, the two armies were to push on rapidly to Nissa, 
and co-operate with Tchernayeff, moving from Ak-Palanka 
and Pirot, in a general assault upon that fortress. If this 
proved successful or not, Nicholas was thence to hasten 
southward and effect a junction with his second Division 
before Medun and Podgoritza. This entire plan was dis- 
concerted by the unaccountable retrograde movement of 
the Servians after their first repulse from Novi-Bazar. 

Prince Nicholas had not a sufficient force to hope to ac- 
complish his part of the proposed movement without the 
co-operation of the Servians, and he concluded to remain 
in the Herzegovina. Having strengthened the investing 
force about Niksics by a detachment, he occupied the 
road from Klek to Stolatz, as above stated, but did not 
merely take a position and remain inactive. On the con- 
trary, so active was he that his army, small as it was, 
scarcely 25,000 in number, appeared actually ubiquitous, 
keeping the Turks in constant alarm at all points, threaten- 
ing Gachko one day, Mostar the next, Stolatz the next, 
then dashing around Mostar to some point beyond, and re- 
turning with bewildering celerity towards Klek, and then 
flying to the region of Niksics and down to Trebinje— it 
was utterly impossible for the poor, sleepy, slow-paced 
Turks to keep track of his movements, much less could 
they anticipate them ! Indeed, they gave it up, and simply 
waited, trusting to "Allah" to prevent the daring Prince 
from effecting serious mischief. 

It is impossible for us to detail the movements of the 
Montenegrins of either division, for Viskotitich and Peko 
Petrovich were not less active than the Prince, and were 
constantly turning up in unexpected quarters, striking a 
well-directed blow, and off nobody knew whither. The 
siege of Niksics and of Medun-Podgoritza was never, 
however, neglected, but was steadily maintained. We 



THE GKEAT VICTORY AT VERBITZA. 295 

shall simply mention the successive victories of the two, 
for of defeats they had not one. 

July 2d, a Turkish force attacked the newly-arrived 
Montenegrins before Podgoritza, and was repulsed. 

July 11th, each division gained a slight victory, the 
first at Korianika, near Grahovo, the other near Podgo- 
ritza. 

July 12th, Selim Pasha received a rough handling in 
the pass of Zallan ; there was a twelve-hours' battle, the 
result was reported by the Turks as a "victory,'' they 
having "opened the pass of Zallan and the road to 
Gachko ;" we presume the pass and road were " opened," 
for the Prince was before Gachko, frightening the garri- 
son, the next day. 

July 16th, the Turks had another " victory," losing four 
block-houses which they had erected to keep up communi- 
cation between Podgoritza and Medun ; reinforcements 
sent from Podgoritza succeeded in getting back into that 
fortification with the loss of only one-third of their number. 

July 23d, the Prince having executed one of his inex- 
plicable (to the Turks) movements, suddenly leaving Ne- 
vesinje to operate in a new quarter, and leaving a small 
detachment, under Paulovics, at Bishnia, near Blagai, to 
cover his movement, Muktar Pasha, with twelve battalions, 
gained a " victory " over the detachment, which moved off 
to rejoin the Prince. Muktar, in his report of this achieve- 
ment, complains that the "whereabouts of Nicholas are un- 
known." 

July 25th, Mehemet Pasha, with 15,000 men, in three 
columns, advancing respectively from Fundina, Medun and 
Dogliani, made a severe assault upon the Montenegrins 
near Podgoritza, but were repulsed with terrible loss, and 
sent, in hot haste, into the intrenchments of Podgoritza. 

July 27th, Muktar Pasha discovered the whereabouts of 



296 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



the Prince at Verbitza, near Bilek, where the latter inflicted 
upon him a crushing defeat, capturing hundreds of prisoners, 
including several Pashas, though Muktar succeeded in saving 
himself — so signal was this defeat that even the Pasha com-, 
man ding confessed it. Muktar kept himself closely shut 
up in Trebinje for weeks. 

The terrible disasters of the Servians seem to have de- 
pressed the Montenegrins for a shoiu time, and there were 
no operations worth comment until 

August 13th, the 2d Division surprised a large force 
of Turks, under Mehemet Pasha, in a narrow defile between 
Podgoritza and Seotza; Mehemet was even more unfor- 
tunate in this than in his former experience of Montene- 
grin valor, as he could neither fight nor escape in good 
order ; the telegram says : he " was driven back in great 
confusion, with the slaughter of thousands." 

September 5th and 6th. The newspapers for upwards of 
two weeks had been announcing that the Turks, in conse- 
quence of their successes in Servia, were about to assume 
the offensive against Montenegro, and this proved true. 
On the Albanian side, Mehemet Pasha, with 19,000 men, 
was encamped at Podgoritza, and Dervish Pasha, with a 
force of somewhere about 15,000 men, was " preparing to 
enter Montenegro from the Albanian frontier.' His pre- 
parations were seriously interrupted by the Montenegrins, 
who preferred that he should not " enter Montenegro ;" at 
Rogani, just within the Montenegrin border, in the Zupan 
Piperi, there was a detachment of less than 6,000 Monte- 
negrins, against whom Dervish advanced with much confi- 
dence ; meeting unexpected resistance, he found it necessary 
to bring into action his entire force ; at this juncture, the 
Montenegrins received an accession of 2,400 fresh troops, 
whereupon, with gallant bravery, they charged the superior 
numbers of Dervish, and the Turkish commander in- 



CAPITULATION OF MEDUN. 



297 



definitely postponed his projected trip into the Tzerna- 
Gora, hastily retreating towards Podgoritza instead — 
such was the precipitancy of their flight that "a great 
number of the Turks were drowned in recrossing the 
Moratcha." 

At the same time, Muktar Pasha, having received con- 
siderable reinforcements from Constantinople, including a 
corps under Djellaledin Pasha, began to be demonstratively 
courageous, emerging from Trebinje and marching towards 
Klobuk with a force sufficient to have stormed that little 
stronghold and annihilated its small garrison ; he had 
learned discretion, however, and was content to intrench 
himself between Zaslap and Klobuk, sending Djellaledin 
towards Baniani. According to their usual custom the 
Montenegrins quietly withdrew their detachments, concen- 
trating their forces, not to await Muktar's pleasure or con- 
venience, but to strike him at the opportune moment. 
Having waited for nearly a month for the heralded offen- 
sive movements of Muktar, the Montenegrins concluded to 
give him a hint as to " the whereabouts of Nicholas/' and 
on the 11th of September intercepted a convoy of supplies 
on the road between Korjenic and Trebinje. It was all in 
vain, however ; Muktar would not be offensive even when 
his communications were cut — it was more comfortable 
within his intrenchments than risking another Verbitza. 
On the 17th, the armistice relieved Muktar of all appre- 
hensions for a week, and its renewal gave him another 
breathing spell. On October 7th, the impatient Monte- 
negrins made another effort to arouse the Turkish com- 
mander by a demonstration on the road to Niksics, but 
only succeeded in awakening him sufficiently for him to 
report another "victory." There were several slight 
brushes, in which, as the newspaper reports stated, "the 
Montenegrins seem to be slowly gaining ground," but no 



298 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



severe battles occurred, and no, in themselves, important 
movements were made, until 

The last week in October, when the Montenegrin forces 
east of Montenegro compelled the Turkish garrison of 
Medun to surrender — 4,000 men, a number of heavy guns 
and a large amount of supplies, being the direct fruits of 
this important success, while the indirect results were of 
still greater moment: Dervish Pasha had succeeded in in- 
sinuating himself again within the Montenegrin boundary ; 
but the fall of Medun made it impossible for him to re- 
main — he was in a trap, and an hour's delay might give 
the terrible " Black-Mountain devils " the pleasure of com- 
pletely " bottling him up." Without waiting to bear away 
his guns, or ^ven daring to incumber himself with all his 
equipage and supplies, he fled towards Spush, with Monte- 
negrins in hot pursuit, his losses on the way attesting his 
folly in entering, and his wisdom in escaping from, "the 
Black Mountain " domains. 

October 30th, the Montenegrins formally invested Pod- 
goritza, bombarding it with the fine guns captured at 
Medun; as all their "investments" turned out well 
hitherto, no doubt this one would have proved no excep- 
tion, had not the crisis of Servia and the intervention of 
Russia brought the war to an abrupt conclusion on the 
very day that the formal investment and bombardment 
began. This not only prevented the Montenegrin's cap- 
turing Podgoritza, but it relieved Muktar Pasha from his 
"offensive" troubles in the Herzegovina, leaving him still 
intrenched at a safe distance from Klobuk. 



CHAPTER X. 



THE OUTBEEAK OF HOSTILITIES. 

The earlier portions of the present work have passed in 
review the period of five centuries since the Osmanli 
Turks crossed the Dardanelles at Gallipoli, and fixed the 
seat of their dominion at Adrianople. The extinction of 
the Byzantine Empire in 1453, the subjugation of the 
whole of South-eastern Europe, including Hungary and 
the southern provinces of Russia, by means of a long 
series of successful wars with the Christian Powers had 
brought Turkey, at the close of the sixteenth century, to 
the high-water mark of her greatness, as the most formi- 
dable power in the world. The seventeenth and eighteenth 
centuries exhibited the successive steps of her decline, 
while it was reserved to the last quarter of the nineteenth 
century to witness her fall as a European power, and the 
creation upon her ruins of a series of Christian States, 
under the protection of Russia. That the perennial 
"Eastern .Question" has closed, no one would be bold 
enough to affirm, but it has at least passed beyond the 
stage where the degenerate successors of Osman could 
crush by the incredible barbarities of their bashi-bazouks 
the reviving sentiment of nationality in the subject 
provinces. 

. The declaration of war against Turkey, issued by the 
Czar, at Kischeneff, April 24th, 1877, was, in some sense, a 
relief to all Christendom, even to the staunch upholders of 
299 



300 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



the Treaty of Paris and the "integrity and independence 
of the Ottoman Empire." It put an end to a miserable 
period of petty provincial insurrections, Bulgarian atro- 
cities and diplomatic wranglings, in which each event was 
of importance chiefly as a prelude to the "impending 
crisis," which, with prophetic instinct, the whole world felt 
to be approaching. 

Modern warfare has been defined as " a series of dramatic 
surprises," in which the only thing which can be confi- 
dently predicted is that the result will baffle the shrewdest 
conjecture. The great conflict of 1877-8, was no excep- 
tion to this rule. It was known that Russia had long 
looked forward to this struggle, that an immense railway 
4 system had been constructed with reference to the rapid 
concentration of her forces on both frontiers, and that the 
mobilization of six army corps had been in progress since 
October of the previous year. It was not unreasonably 
believed, by most military critics, that the campaign would 
be short, sharp and decisive, after the pattern of the German 
strategy, which culminated in Sadowa and Sedan. The 
feverish activity of the Russian advance during the first 
week of the war, lent color to this theory, but it was 
destined to be rudely shattered by the long delay in cross- 
ing the Danube. 

At the outbreak of hostilities, the Russian forces destined 
for the Danubian campaign were ranged in cantonments 
along the river Pruth, the boundary between the Russian 
province of Bessarabia and the Roumanian province of 
Moldavia. Bessarabia, a low-land region extending from 
the Kilia mouth of the Danube northward to the Dniester, 
had been for centuries the chief battle-ground between the 
Moslem and the Muscovite. Here are situated the for- 
tresses of Bender, famous in the annals of Charles XII. of 
Sweden, and Ismail, on the Danube, whose capture by 



KISCHENEFF. 



301 



Suwarrow in 1790, forms the bloodiest chapter of the reign 
of Catherine. The population of Bessarabia is kindred to 
that of Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania, together 
constituting the great Roumanian or Dacian race, which 
aspires to play so great a part in the revived glories of the 
East. It was not without reference to the fundamental 
difference of race, language and sentiment between the 
Roumanians and the surrounding Slavonic peoples, that 
the allied powers, after the Crimean war, deprived Russia 
of the southern portion of Bessarabia bordering upon the 
Danube and annexed it to Roumania, thereby planting 
the seeds of discord, which were certain to germinate and 
bear abundant fruit, as an offset to any future temptations 
which Russia might offer to Roumanian ambition. If any 
further elements of difficulty could be added to the prob- 
lem of reconciling conflicting aspirations, they may be 
found in the presence of numerous colonies of Bulgarians 
and German Mennonites, who occupy precisely the dis- 
tricts through which the boundary line of 1856 was drawn. 

The capital of Bessarabia is Kischeneff, a city of con- 
siderable size situated near the centre of the province, on 
the railway which connects St. Petersburg with the Mol- 
davian frontier at Ungheni. Here the head-quarters of 
the army of the Danube had been established during the 
preceding winter by the Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaieff, 
and hither came, April 23d, 1877, the Czar Alexander, 
accompanied by the Czarewitch, Prince Gortschakoff and 
the chief dignitaries of the Imperial Court. For several 
weeks the date and place of lifting the curtain upon the 
first act of the great Oriental drama had been determined 
at St. Petersburg, and the moment had now arrived. Mr. 
J. A. MacGahan, correspondent of the London Daily 
News, gives a vivid picture of the opening scene on Tues- 
day, April 24th. 



302 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



"Soon nearly the whole population of Kischeneff was 
pouring out of the narrow, filthy, muddy streets of the 
Jewish quarter, across the little valley of the Briskhova, 
to the slopes and the fields on the other side, where part 
of the troops were camped, and where the review was to 
be held. The spot was well-chosen, on a gentle, undula- 
ting hill-side, which enabled the spectators to see the whole 
army at once, as the lines rose behind each other higher 
and higher up the slope. It w T as a beautiful sunny 
morning, and the bright colors of the uniforms, the glitter 
of thousands of bayonets flashing in the sunshine, and the 
broad blaze of light reflected from a long line of polished 
field-pieces, and all set in a frame of brilliant green that 
covered the surrounding hills, made a beautiful and strik- 
ing picture. It was all the more impressive, that this was 
no mere holiday review arranged for show, but a review 
which everybody knew w r as the prelude to war. These 
uniforms, now so bright and fresh-looking, would soon be 
soiled with mud and dust; blackened and begrimed with 
the smoke of powder, and bespattered with blood. And 
those guns with their brand-new look, whose voices had 
never yet been heard, would soon be speaking in tones of 
thunder, and their fiery throats vomiting destruction and 
death. A review, under such circumstances, is a solemn 
sight; and so the great crowd of people who had assembled 
to witness it, seemed to feel. The troops were already 
under arms by nine o'clock, and they stood there in long 
lines and masses, never moving in the slightest; motionless 
as statues, and as silent too, for an hour and a half, until 
the arrival of the Emperor. There w T as something 
strangely impressive and awful, in this prolonged silence 
and immobility. The crowds looking upon serried lines 
so silent and motionless, became themselves silent, and 
gazed with wonder and awe. Those masses of men, and 



BEADING THE MANIFESTO. 



303 



horses, and cannon, with the power of causing such hideous 
uproar as to make the very earth tremble, were now so 
still and silent, that they seemed to be held petrified by 
some mighty spell, and they inspired in the crowd feelings 
of vague dread. There was none of the laughing, or 
joking, or chaff, of which one usually hears so much in a 
crowd assembled for a holiday sight. They spoke to each 
other in hushed voices, and every face wore a serious, 
earnest look. Nor was the silence broken upon the 
arrival of the Emperor. The crowd only swayed and 
opened a passage, taking off their hats as he passed, and 
not till he mounted his horse, and, accompanied by his 
brother, the Grand Duke Nicholas, and followed by an 
immense staff of more than a hundred officers, began to 
ride slowly along the lines, was the silence broken by the 
sound of music and cheers. 

"The review proper lasted nearly an hour, and was over 
about half past eleven. Then, when the music ceased 
there was silence again; the soldiers took off their caps, 
and the example was followed by the crowd. The voice of 
one man was heard, it was that of the Bishop of Kischeneff, 
saying a grand military mass. This lasted about three- 
quarters of an hour, during which time everybody, specta- 
tors as well as soldiers, remained uncovered, with composed, 
but expectant faces. Finally this came to an end, and 
then an anxious murmur ran through the crowd. If the 
manifesto were to be launched, if war were to be declared, 
now was the moment when it would be done. In fact, the 
long-expected, long-hoped-for moment had come. There 
was a dead silence for an instant, during which I could 
hear the ticking of my watch; then a clear, strong voice 
broke the stillness. It was not the voice of the Emperor, 
but of the Bishop of Kischeneff, who was reading the mani- 
festo, and, strange to say, he had not read more than half 



304 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



way through it, when sobs were heard, and people looking 
about to see whence they proceeded, perceived that' they 
were from the Emperor Alexander, and that he was weep- 
ing like a child. It had been the pride and glory of his 
reign that it was one of peace; it had been his boast and 
his hope that he would finish it without a war; and now, 
in spite of everything he had done to avoid it, the step 
was at last taken, and a war was declared, the consequence 
of which no man can foresee. When they saw how much 
the Emperor was affected by it, there was probably not a 
dry eye within the range of the reader's voice; but no 
sooner had the Bishop finished, than there went up a wild 
and universal shout, such as I never heard before, and 
scarcely expect to ever hear again. It was a shout of ex- 
ultation, of triumph and of relief, as though a great 
weight of suspense were lifted from the heart of the mul- 
titude. It spread through the army with the rapidity of 
sound itself, and was taken instantly up by the crowd 
outside and repeated over and over again, until the very 
sky was full of it. The soldiers tossed their caps high in 
the air and caught them on their bayonets, and twirled 
them round and round, shouting and yelling as though 
they would burst their throats. This continued for several 
minutes, and when silence was again restored the Bishop of 
Kischeneff addressed the army. His discourse was very 
effective and telling, and was received very much the same 
way as the manifesto itself, with shouts and cheers. Then 
the ordre dujour of the Grand Duke Nicholas, Comman- 
der-in-Chief of this army, was read to every battalion, 
squadron and battery. The Emperor and his staff retired, 
and work for the day was over A part of the army, I 
believe, started directly from the review to the frontier 
without a moment's pause, and the rest began rapidly pre- 
paring for the march. ,, 



DISASTROUS NEGLECT BY THE TURKS. 



305 



On the same day the advance guard of the Bussians 
crossed the Pruth at Leovo, Beshtamach and Kubea. By 
a brilliant coup de main on the following day, Beni, Galatz, 
Braila and the railway bridge across the Sereth at Barbosch 
were occupied. Ismail and the Kilia mouth of the Danube 
shortly after. Galatz on the Danube is the chief port of 
Boumanian commerce, and the key to the whole railway 
system of the principalities. The neglect of the Turkish 
commanders on the Danube to secure this railway and to 
destroy the bridges over the Pruth and Sereth was a most 
convincing proof of their utter incapacity, and might have 
led to the immediate collapse of their whole line of defense 
along the Danube. It is not probable that either the 
Porte or the Commander-in-Chief, Abdul Kerim Pasha, 
can have been ignorant of the military value of the advan- 
tages they thus abandoned to the invaders, and the expla- 
nation of their conduct must be sought in the anomalous 
political relations of Boumania to the two contending 
powers and to Europe. 

The two provinces of Moldavia and Waliachia w T ere at- 
tached by a very frail and uncertain allegiance to the 
Ottoman Empire. They had never been an integral por- 
tion of the Turkish Empire, but had been ruled for centu- 
ries by native tributary princes called Voivodes or by 
Greek viceroys called Hosj)odars, w T ho had frequently 
allied themselves with Bussia or Austria against their 
suzerain. Moldavia had been occupied by Peter the Great 
in the disastrous war of 1711, and again by the Empress 
Anne, in 1739, when that principality had been formally 
taken under Bussian protection. Both Moldavia and 
Waliachia had sworn allegiance to the Empress Catherine 
in 1769, and had been restored to Turkey in 1774 upon 
conditions which authorized Bussian intervention for the 
protection of the Boumanian Christians. Both provinces 



306 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



had been formally annexed to Russia in 1807, possession 
had been guaranteed by compact with Napoleon, and they 
had been retained until 1812. Large portions of Walla- 
chia had repeatedly changed hands between Turkey and 
Austria, and Roumania had enjoyed self-government under 
European protection since the Treaty of Paris. The hesi- 
tancy of the Turks to occupy Roumania must therefore be 
ascribed to the fear of European interference. 

That Roumania would co-operate with Russia in the 
campaign which was now to open, was a foregone conclu- 
sion, and had already been assured by a secret convention 
between the two governments, bearing date April 16th, 
and ratified by the Roumanian parliament, April 28th. 
Certain it is, that no resistance was made to the Russian 
advance, and no protest recorded against the violation of 
her territory. The Roumanian forces were mobilized and 
stationed along the Danube to resist any aggression from 
Turkey; but the farce of neutrality was maintained until 
the invaders should be well over the Danube. 

While these events were occurring upon the northern 
frontier, the Turkish government was naturally making 
its preparations to resist the threatened attack. The clique 
then dominant at Constantinople had needlessly and reck- 
lessly precipitated hostilities by its insulting rejection of 
the proposals of the Constantinople conference, (January 
18th,) and afterwards of the Protocol signed at London, 
(March 31st,) by the representatives of the six great 
powers. Like M. Emile Ollivier, at the outbreak of the 
Franco-German war, they accepted the situation "with a 
light heart." At a later day Turkish statesmen accused 
the English cabinet of having induced them to reject the 
proposals of the Powers, by the promise that they should 
be guaranteed against material loss. Certainly the protest 
with which Lord Derby replied to the Russian declaration 



hopes of England's assistance. 307 

of hostilities, (May 1st,) was calculated to encourage a 
belief that England would fight, if necessary, for the 
antiquated figment of the "independence and territorial 
integrity of the Ottoman Empire." The recent victories 
gained over Servia, and the intervention of the Powers to 
save that principality from complete destruction, seemed 
an omen of the intentions of EurojDe with regard to Tur- 
key herself in case she should require such mediation. 
That Eussia should consent to the conclusion of peace 
with Servia, thus losing an ally on the very eve of taking 
up arms for Bulgaria seemed a paradox only to be ac- 
counted for by the manifest favor of Heaven. Wild hopes 
were entertained of inflicting upon the Russians a humil- 
iation similar to that just suffered by Servia, and national 
tradition spoke of invincible resistance behind fortifications. 
English officers in the Turkish service were eager for war, 
and Russian-hating periodicals at London joined in the 
chorus of praise which celebrated the magnificent fighting 
qualities of "England's ancient ally." There can be no 
doubt that Lord Beaconsfield, the inventor of the great 
"Asian mystery," bent all his energies from the first, to 
commit England to the support of the Turk, nor that he 
succeeded in influencing the mind of his sovereign in 
the same direction. Lord Derby's dispatch to Count 
Schouvaloff, dated May 6th, jauntily enumerated numerous 
"British interests" in the East, which it was intimated 
Russia would do well in respecting. 

About the middle of April the Turkish commander on 
the Danube, Abdul-Kerim Pasha, proceeded from Varna 
by railway to Rustchuk, accompanied by a numerous staff. 
His mission was to inspect the fortresses of the famous 
Quadrilateral (Varna, Shumla, Rustchuk and Silistria), 
and place them in a state of defense. Calculations were 
made that the siege of these fortresses alone would delay the 



308 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



progress of the invader at least six months, even should 
they ultimately be reduced one by one. The Danubian 
line would thus have occupied the foe during the whole of 
the first campaign, and it was thought that Turkey might 
safely trust to the chapter of accidents, not to mention her 
armies in the field, to protect her from all danger in a 
second campaign. The calculations which were current at 
this time at Constantinople, and the elements which were 
counted upon for the war, are exhibited in the letter of a 
competent military critic, dating from that capital, April 
17th : 

"People here are carefully counting up the forces which 
can be brought together in hostility, and the preparations 
which have been made on both sides for attack and defense. 
It is noted that, if the Russians possess an overwhelming 
force with which to take the field, Turkey has the superi- 
ority at sea, and the Turks hope much from attacks upon 
the southern shores of Russia. As far as can be under- 
stood from the disposition of her forces, Russia intends to 
attack the Ottoman Empire simultaneously in Europe and 
Asia, whilst the Turks will endeavor to hold their own on 
land, and create a diversion in their favor by means of the 
fleet, which will attack the fortified ports along the Russian 
shore, and harass the enemy in every manner possible. 
Russia, as well as Turkey, has had to drink of defensive 
measures, though hardly from fear of invasion. All 
through the winter she has been steadily at work along 
the Black Sea shores, building forts, throwing up earth- 
works, laying down torpedoes and training men to the use . 
of submarine weapons. The Russians are trusting to tor- 
pedoes and heavy guns, and hope the dread, which the 
former inspire, will keep the Turkish commanders from 
venturing with their vessels too near the shore. 

The first question for the Russians after a declaration of 



DIFFICULTIES OF CKOSSING THE DANUBE. 309 



war will be, liow to overcome Turkey's first line of defense; 
in fact, how to cross the Danube. Turkey possesses a 
strong flotilla of armored gun-boats on the river, which, if 
properly handled, ought to considerably impede any opera- 
tions carried on for the purpose of constructing a bridge, 
and to inflict great loss by shelling the enemy from a dis- 
tance. These vessels will also facilitate the landing of 
Turkish troops on the Roumanian shore, should it be de- 
cided to have a trial of strength on what may be termed 
enemy's territory, in a flight from the Russian advance 
guard. The difficulty of crossing the river, owing to these 
gun-boats, has not been under-estimated by the Russian 
Government, and with a view of paralyzing their action, 
and protecting the operations for throwing over a bridge, 
a number of small torpedo-boats have been added to the 
equipment of the invading army. These boats are steam 
launches about thirty feet long, constructed, with the ex- 
ception of one, which is of steel, of thin iron-plating. 
They are fitted with engines of eight-horse power, and 
possess great speed. Being specially built with a view to 
transport by rail, they are exceedingly light for their size, 
and do not weigh, with their engines and fittings all com- 
plete, more than three and a half tons. They will probably 
be fitted with the spar torpedo, and the crews will trust to 
their speed to carry them alongside an enemy's gun-boat 
and away from it again, before the Turks will have suffi- 
ciently recovered theii presence of mind to point a gun 
correctly or even fire one. As a protection against rifle- 
fire, these boats carry shields at each end, but there is 
nothing to prevent their being sunk by the fire of a great 
gun. Well manceuvered, under the command of bold and 
enterprising officers, these launches might become very 
dangerous to the Turks, and, in any case, are likely to prove 
a valuable auxiliary force, as they may be used, amongst 



310 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



other purposes, for carrying over the advance guard. Once 
at the river, the Russian army will be delayed until the 
bridge is constructed for the j3assage of the main body. 
Materials for a bridge have been collected in abundance at 
the town of Ismail, on the Kilia branch of the delta, and 
include both pontoons and boats as well as the necessary 
timber. All these, however, will have to be transported to 
the place fixed upon for attempting the passage, and here 
again the Turkish gun-boats will come into play, unless 
the torpedo-boats can drive them away. The Russians, 
apparently, are feeling their naval inferiority, and would 
like to get a few larger crafts than these launches on the 
Danube. They have a number of heavily-armed gun- 
boats at Nicholaieff, all prepared and ready for sea at a 
moment's notice. It is probably the intention of the Rus- 
sian Government to try and slip them into one of the 
mouths of the Danube immediately it is decided to send 
the declaration of war. Should this design be carried out 
it would materially alter the state of affairs ; but the Turks 
are taking their measures in time, and to-day a well-chosen 
squadron of small iron-clads has left for the north, with 
orders to keep the strictest and closest watch over the 
delta. This squadron, which is under the command of 
Mustapha Pasha, consists of two heavily-armored iron 
corvettes, splendid craft in their way, mounting guns of 
the heaviest description, 12J-ton muzzle-loading Arm- 
strongs, in a battery so arranged as to admit of a fire being 
delivered almost in a line with the keel. These crafts are 
the Mukademieh Hhair, or Happy Beginning, and the 
Fethi Bulend, or Great Victory, and in addition to them 
are the Hiftzi Rahman, or Divine Protector, and the Lutfi- 
Djelil, twin screw, iron-clad, sea-going turret- vessels, car- 
rying, each of them, four 150-pounder Armstrong guns. 
" For the moment, then, this is the naval force outside the 



THE TURKISH SQUADRON. 



311 



river; and now a few words may be said about the squadron 
inside, which is under the command of Mustapha Pasha, 
an officer who has generally obtained credit for energy. 
The squadron on the river consists of some seven armored 
gun-boats, and a few small wooden steam vessels armed 
with light guns. The iron-clad gun-boats are all about 115 
feet in length, carrying, each of them, two breech-loading 
Armstrong guns (80-pounders) in a battery placed on the 
fore part of the deck, and are protected by two-inch armor. 
The remaining two are of very superior construction, car- 
rying their two guns (80-pounder Krupps) in a turret 
placed forward. They were built at Constantinople, and 
only launched a few months ago, and are now on their way 
to join the force under Mustapha Pasha, in company with 
the squadron which sailed yesterday. The armor of these 
boats is sufficient to prevent the penetration of projectiles 
from field-pieces, and they will be able, therefore, to move 
up and down the river, delivering a galling fire at any 
point almost with impunity, unless the measures taken by 
the Russians to destroy them or keep them at a distance 
prove successful. Nothing is known as to whether the 
Roumanian authorities have connived at the placing of 
torpedoes in the river on the part of the Russians, though 
doubtless the latter will have thought of it, seeing how 
much the Federal gun-boats were hampered in the southern 
rivers during the great war in America by torpedoes placed 
there by the Confederates. The Turks at one time thought 
of having recourse to these weapons, and placing them at 
every point on the Danube at all suitable for crossing, but 
there is reason to believe the idea has been abandoned. 

" The Russian troops are concentrated at Kischeneff, and 
in view of the great superiority of force on their side, the 
invading army will probably attempt to cross the Danube 
at two points. Let us examine, then, the disposition of the 



312 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Turkish troops made to receive them. The numerical 
strength of the Turkish army, as I have before explained, 
has been greatly over-stated, purposely so on the part of the 
authorities, and by the European press almost of necessity, 
from there being few other sources of information on the 
subject than the local newspapers. From one of the best 
authorities, however, I gather that the whole force of the 
defense of the Danube cannot possibly exceed 100,000 
men, in addition to a force of 34,000 south of the Balkans, 
between Nisch and Sophia. These troops but a very short 
time ago were distributed between the various fortresses on 
the river ; half the force stationed in about equal numbers 
at Silistria and Rustchuk, and the remainder, with the ex- 
ception of a small reserve force at Shumla, concentrated at 
Widdin. The Turks have made the mistake, according to 
the best military authorities on the subject, of attempting 
too great a line of defense. They will be too weak to offer 
a successful resistance at any point where the Russians may 
attempt to cross. The bulk of the Turkish army will be 
shut up within fortresses which the Eussians will only 
blockade, and not regularly besiege. There will thus be 
nothing to stop the march of the invaders to the plains 
south of the Balkans, and it may be to the gates of Con- 
stantinople. As far as one can judge, the Turks have an 
idea of commencing resistance before the Russians shall 
have reached the Danube, of fighting a battle on Roumanian 
soil, for it has been given out, that the moment the advance 
guard of the Russians reach the Pruth the Turks will 
cross over in face of Silistria and intrench themselves at 
Kalarash ; whilst the army at Widdin will also take the 
offensive. The fortresses on the Danube have been repaired 
lately, and a few new earthworks erected at Silistria, Wid- 
din and Rustchuk, as well as at one or two places in the 
Dobrudscha. Their armament has been changed within 



THE COMMAND OF THE BLACK SEA. 



313 



the last few months, and most of the batteries on the 
Danube now mount Krupp guns of considerable calibre. 
The best chance for the Turks, according to foreign military 
authorities, would be to let the Russians cross over, while 
they themselves concentrated all efforts on the defense of 
the Balkans ; but in their pride the Turks will not believe 
in the possibility of the enemy ever reaching the passes, 
and so there is reason to imagine that not so much attention 
has been given to the gates of the Roumanian plains as, 
from a Turkish point of view, ought to have been given. 

"Returning to the Black Sea, the same necessity does not 
exist for the Turks to defend their ports as is imposed upon 
Russia, owing to the former having the command of the 
Black Sea. They have a fine iron-clad fleet, sufficient in 
number, possibly, when supplemented by their wooden 
vessels, to blockade, if necessary, the whole of the Russian 
coast. Properly watched, not a vessel ought to be allowed 
to escape out of the Russian ports ; and though there is a 
fine fleet of merchant steamers at its disposal, the Turks 
ought to be able to prevent the Russian Government from 
sending any supplies to its various corps oV armee except 
overland. With enemy's vessels stationed here and there, 
and a squadron of fast-steaming iron-clads sweeping round 
the shore, threatening the sea-coast towns, attacking the 
fortified posts and destroying the Government depots, as 
the Turks, if they understand the value of their fleet, will 
certainly do, the Russians will have to retain considerable 
forces in the south for their own defense. Recent intelli- 
gence from Odessa declares that the army destined for this 
work consists of at least 270,000 men, of which 200,000 at 
the present time are in quarters near that town, the re- 
mainder being distributed in detachments along the shore 
to the northward and eastward, as far as the mainland on 
the other side of the Crimea. This is a large force cer- 



314 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



tainly, but ships have the advantage, in the present day, of 
steam, and can move about with far greater celerity than 
trooj)s. Feints and threatened attacks upon certain positions 
with small portions of the fleet will serve to draw off the 
troops from other places whilst the main body of w T ar-vessels 
is preparing for a descent upon the towns thus left only 
partially defended. This is the sort of work that would be 
undertaken by a British fleet in similar circumstances, 
and the Turks are supposed to have studied in the same 
school. They possess amongst the vessels of the iron-clad 
fleet just the sort of craft to suit a dashing commander — 
vessels of light draught, heavily armored, mounting guns 
of large calibre, and steaming well. Two of the vessels in 
question, as previously mentioned, have already left for 
the mouth of the Danube, and there are two others of 
precisely the same description lying at Batoum, the Avni 
Illah and llouni Zaffir. In addition to these vessels there 
are four other armored corvettes, called respectively the 
Idjlalieh, Athar Tefyh, Athar Shefket and Nedjim She/- 
ket, which carry, on the average, eight heavy guns each, 
two of which, as a rule, are mounted on revolving platforms 
on the upper decks, for the delivery of ' all-round fire.' 
These ships, lying off a battery, end on, could pour in a very 
destructive fire against a battery or other object as a target, 
whilst, from their small size and absence of heavy masts 
and sailing gear, they would present but a very small mark 
for the enemy. These eight vessels do not form the whole 
of the strength of the iron-clad fleet, as there are lying at 
the present moment at the mouth of the Bosphorus five 
large broadside iron-rdad frigates, one of which is one of the 
most formidable vessels of her class afloat. She is called the 
Messoudieh, and having left the building-yard of the Thames 
Ironworks Company only within the last two years, has 
had very recent improvement, and is even a finer vessel than 



STRENGTH OF THE TURKISH FLEET. 



315 



our own Sultan, which she closely resembles. She is pro- 
tected by a belt of 14-inch armor, and carries fourteen 12i-ton 
guns, with two indented ports on either side, for firing fore 
and aft. The guns are protected by armor-plated bulk- 
heads and a double bottom ; division into water-tight com- 
partments reduces considerably the risk of her total 
destruction by the explosion of the enemy's torpedoes. 
Unfortunately, she consumes an enormous quantity of coal, 
and so is hardly the ship for such active operations as I 
have sketched, though she would answer admirably for an 
attack upon a fortress or the blockade of a port. Another 
vessel of precisely the same description and size is expected 
shortly from England ; she is called the Uamidie in com- 
pliment to the Sultan ; and as there are now but a very 
few thousand pounds to be paid to complete the contract 
price, she will probably be delivered into the hands of the 
Turkish authorities in a few days. The four other iron- 
clad frigates I have mentioned are of an old type, and only 
protected by plates of 4i inches in thickness. They are 
the Mahmoudieh (now stationed at Batoum), the Azizieh, 
the Orchanieh and Osmanieli. They carry each of them 
sixteen heavy Armstrong muzzle-loaders and possess very 
good steaming qualities. The whole strength of the Otto- 
man navy consists of fifteen iron-clads, five wooden steam 
frigates, eleven wooden corvettes, two wooden gun vessels 
and eleven gun-boats, of which seven are armored, and 
form the Danube flotilla previously described. There are 
thirteen large transports, six fast dispatch vessels and two 
imperial yachts, besides a number of small steamers and 
wooden hulks. The official report places the total number 
of vessels of all descriptions at 132, manned by some 18,292 
officers, seamen and marines. Turkey, then, has, numeri- 
cally speaking, one of the finest fleets in the world, and 
this naval force, in other respects also, is now not so defi- 



316 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



cient as it was some months ago. The ships are fully 
manned, armed and provisioned. The captains handle 
their vessels fairly, and the crews work the guns in a smart 
manner. The weak point of the fleet is in manceuvering 
together; but this would only tell in an action with an 
enemy of anything like equal force, and need enter into no 
calculation with regard to operations against the enemy's 
coast, for there it is rather judgment in placing the vessels 
for attack, and cool courage and endurance on the part of 
the officers and men, which are required. 

" The Russian navy cannot compare favorably with the 
Turkish, for though her official list contains the names of 
a large number of iron-clads, by far the greater portion of 
them are small turret vessels and monitors, designed for 
coast defense, and hardly fit for voyage on the Mediterra- 
nean. They have five large frigates it is true, but there is 
not one of them to be compared to the Messoudieh; and in 
all probability, any one of the Turkish corvettes of the 
Fethi Buland class would be a match for a Russian iron- 
clad frigate — according to the list in question there are five 
frigates, one of which is building — one breastwork monitor 
building, three sea-going batteries, seven turret vessels, ten 
monitors and two PopofTkas (circular iron-clads). At the 
present moment the Russians have but one iron-clad in the 
Mediterranean, two wooden frigates and two gun-boats. 

* * :•: :•: :•: :•: * * * 

"The forts at the entrance to the Dardanelles are not of 
much account, being of somewhat ancient type, and though 
constructed of masonry, would soon be knocked to pieces 
by the fire of modern artillery. These batteries contain 
no very heavy guns, most of the pieces being smooth-bores 
of an old pattern ; and though of late a few Krupp guns 
have been added, there is nothing that would do much 
damage to an iron-clad passing at a distance. From the 



THE FORTS OF THE DARDANELLES. 317 

entrance to the narrows, there is nothing in the way of 
defenses ; but here two well-planned and constructed forts, 
the one called the Namazieh battery, at Kilid Bahar, and 
the other the Medjidieh, a little to the northward of the 
town of Chanak, can deliver a cross fire that would make 
it very warm for a few minutes for any vessel attempting 
to pass against the will of the Turks. In Fort Medjidieh 
there are two 12i-ton Armstrong guns, besides some ten 
15-centimetre Krupps. These are the strongest forts about 
the Dardanelles, and the only ones likely to inflict much 
damage upon a hostile fleet, although there are three others 
which would have to be passed. The Namazieh battery's 
armament, too, is very heavy, consisting, as it does, of some 
eight 22-centimetre Krupps. The forts of the Bosphorus 
are in much the same condition as those of the Dardanelles. 
From the Black Sea to the two Kavaks, although there is 
a battery on almost every point on either side, no great 
damage could be inflicted on iron-clads forcing a passage, 
as their armament is not of much value. At the two Ka- 
vaks, however, where the channel of the Bosphorus begins 
to narrow, is a very formidable array of batteries, well ar- 
ranged for cross fire. Two of them are of quite recent 
construction, and mount fourteen very heavy Krupp guns 
each, quite capable of piercing the armor-plating of most 
iron-clads. As far as torpedoes are concerned, the Turks 
do not appear to have done much, although the Imperial 
Arsenal at Tophaneh has turned out, within the last four 
months, a number of large cases, intended for submarine 
mines. It is said that a number have been placed both in 
the Bosphorus and at the Dardenelles, and a notice was 
issued some time ago respecting torpedoes at Batoum. The 
torpedoes used by Turkey consist of large iron cases cylin- 
drical in shape, filled with some 1,000 pounds of large 
grain powder, and so arranged as to float within 35 feet of 



318 



THE COXQUEST OF TUKKLEY. 



the surface of the water. They are intended to be fired 
by electricity from the shore. 

"With regard to the defenses of the towns along the 
southern shore of the Black Sea, the Turks are behind 
hand, as it is only at Batoum that the batteries are in any- 
thing like an efficient condition. * * * * 

"The defenses of Batoum consist of a battery on the point, 
mounting 25 guns of various calibre, ranging from 12 to 
22-centimetre Krupps, and two other smaller earthworks 
arranged to fire across the bay. The one to the northward 
mounts four guns, 15 and 22-centimetre Krupps, while the 
one at the head of the bay is armed with seven, three 
of which, however, are smooth-bores of heavy calibre. 
Although the defenses of Batoum seaward are formidable 
enough, no provision has been made against its attack in 
the rear. The Russians would have, however, a tremendous 
task to come down upon Batoum from behind, for there are 
high mountain ranges and thick forests to be traversed, and 
numerous streams to be passed, necessitating months of 
pioneer work, before the army could advance. There is 
another approach to Batoum, however, from the northward, 
and if the Russians had the command of the Black Sea it 
would not be very difficult to capture the place by advanc- 
ing with a sufficient force from Poti. The extensive plain 
of Poti is terminated by a spur from the mountain chain 
at a point about half-way between that town and Batoum. 
Here, at this place, which is called Tsikinzir, the Turks 
have thrown up a number of redoubts, and armed them 
with 24-pounder howitzers and mountain guns of small 
calibre. Their position is, in fact, exceedingly strong, and 
the redoubts could not be carried but at a great sacrifice of 
men, for not only would the invading army have to face 
their fire, but in advancing they would also be exposed to 
the fire of the Turkish squadron stationed at Batoum for 




SOLDIER. MERCHANT. 
REPRESENTATIVE TURKS. 



SITUATION IN ASIATIC TURKEY. 



319 



its protection. The Turkish, troops at Baton m at the 
present moment, amount to something like 12,000 men, but 
preparations have been made for enrolling the Circassians 
as light cavalry, so that in case of need a very large aux- 
iliary force can be added. It is quite likely that the Turks 
will, in case of war, advance upon Poti, resting their left 
wing upon the fleet. There are no difficulties in the way, 
as the intervening streams are all fordable and the distance 
not great. By capturing Poti the Turks would inflict a 
heavy blow, as the railway to Tiflis would be in their 
hands, and they could destroy it, as well as the harbor 
works. For the defense of Poti, three earthwork batte- 
ries have been thrown up, one near the southern mole, 
mounting four large Krupp guns, another a little south of 
it, mounting two Krupps and twenty mortars. There is also 
a long intrenchment for riflemen, and a few torpedoes have 
been laid down as a 'scare' for the Turkish ships. The 
Russians troops for the invasion of Asiatic Turkey are 
concentrated at Alexandropol, a large town on the fron- 
tier, but a very few hours march from Kars. They are said 
to have something like 150,000 men, with all the transport 
arrangements ready for making an advance. Kars is now 
very strongly fortified, new batteries having been con- 
structed. From Poti round to the Crimea there are a few 
small fortified posts, as at Anapa, Sukhum Kaleh and 
Redout Kaleh ; but they would offer very slight opposition 
to the Turkish fleet, as the guns are of no great calibre, 
and the Russians are trusting, not so much to driving off 
the iron-clads with a heavy fire, as to giving a warm re- 
ception to any landing parties by having detachments of 
Cossacks stationed along the coasts, assisted by batteries of 
light field-pieces. It is said also that a very large number 
of torpedoes have been laid down along the coast, some of 
them far out at sea. ****** 



320 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



" Nicholaieff, where the Russians have their arsenal is 
most strongly defended by torpedoes. From the estuary 
to the town the whole channel is mined, and there is little 
probability of the Turks attempting to force a passage. 
The Russian torpedoes are made of thin sheet copper, 
filled with dynamite, and are to be fired by electricity from 
the shore. They have been laid down off all the sea- 
coast towns, and the streets of Kertch are full of them, for 
the Russians have a lively recollection of what was done 
by our gun-boats round the shores of the Azof during the 
Crimean war." 

In anticipation of hostilities, Turkey had bestowed 
especial attention upon the fortifications of her Bulgarian 
fortresses, particularly Varna, Rustchuk and Widdin, 
which were thought likely to prove the points of greatest 
strategic importance. All of them had figured largely in 
previous wars. The possession of Varna had been the 
chief result of the memorable campaign of 1828, and that 
fortress had been the base of operations for the still more 
memorable campaign of 1829, which had been terminated 
by the Treaty of Adrianople. The long siege of Varna 
had severely taxed the energies of the Russian army, had 
given occasion to sanguinary battles, and had been finally 
successful, it was alleged, only through the treason of one 
of the Turkish commanders. In April, 1877, the old line 
of bastioned wall at Varna had been thoroughly repaired, 
the embrasures had been ojoened and freshly revetted, and 
guns of heavy calibre placed in position, especially in the 
batteries looking seaward, from which quarter the most 
serious danger was to be ajyprehended. The six lunettes, 
which, had served as advanced works in 1828 were refitted, 
and as fresh defenses against the long range of modern 
artillery, the heights commanding the town at a distance 
of three miles, had been studded with fourteen forts and 



DEFENSES OF RUSTCHUK. 



321 



redoubts. Three hundred large guns of calibre varying 
from 10 to 15 centimetres, all of the most recent model 
were mounted upon the defenses of Varna, and were com- 
manded by Streker Pasha, an able general of Prussian 
birth. Varna is the terminus on the Black Sea of the 
most important of the Ottoman railways, in a military 
sense, that leading to Shumla and Pustchuk, over which 
the supplies for all the Danubian fortresses must be sent. 
An immense deposit of ammunition was established there, 
and the harbor was the head-quarters of the formidable 
Ottoman navy, commanded by a noted English officer, 
Hobart Pasha. 

The head-quarters of the Turkish army of defense were 
established at Pustchuk. This important city occupies 
nearly the centre of the northern line of fortresses. 
From this fact and its proximity to Bucharest by railway, 
it was reasonable to anticipate that its capture might be 
the first object of Pussian strategy, and vigorous measures 
were therefore taken to render it impregnable to any but 
the most elaborate and prolonged investment. An 
intrenched camp of sufficient magnitude to accommodate 
a garrison of 30,000 men, was constructed in April. The 
principal intrenchment south of the city on the highest 
summit of the Sary Bair plateau, was called the Levant 
Tabia. It was 1,300 yards distant from the outer ram- 
parts, and was formed of two pentagonal redoubts, shaped 
like a butterfly's wings, with a ravelin turned outward 
before the open angle. It was provided with barracks and 
casemates for 2,000 men, and heavily mounted with Krupp 
breech-loading cannon. Two lunettes at a distance of 100 
yards covered the approaches to the Levant Tabia from the 
Pasgrad road, which winds over and around a richly cul- 
tivated series of hills, which surround Pustchuk by land. 
Four redoubts on the ridge of these hills protected the city 



322 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



to the eastward, and were considered sufficient to outflank 
any position the enemy might occupy in the plain below. 
Three other intrenchments were being constructed in April 
and May to coyer the approaches from the south-west, two 
of them on heights to the westward of the river Lorn, 
which, rising in the Balkans, nearly bisects northern Bul- 
garia and here enters the Danube. Much more will be 
heard of this river in the sequel The river front of Bust- 
chuk was lined with five redoubts, two of which were 
chiefly destined for offensive operations in shelling the 
Boumanian town of Giurgevo, across the river, a task they 
subsequently performed with terrible efficacy. The line of 
fortifications already described would seem to be sufficient 
for all reasonable security, but as fortifications are prover- 
bially the great reliance of Turkish warfare, the Com- 
mander-in-Chief conceived at the last moment a " new, 
vast and splendid idea." This was to secure a higher 
plateau which surrounds the main line of defense south- 
ward across an intervening j)lain, and here a further series 
of j)entagonal redoubts was constructed in May, two of 
them, the Mustapha Basha and Iswar Tabias, being of con- 
siderable size. This extended line was chiefly intended to 
guard against attack from the Shumla road on the south- 
east. 

The first natural consequence of the Bussian occupation 
of Galatz, the chief port of Boumania, was the suspension 
of neutral commerce and the departure of the merchant 
vessels in port, which took place April 27th. The second 
was the commencement of operations at that point for 
bridging the Danube, which was done with the greatest 
promptness, though their completion was delayed until June. 
On the day following the declaration of hostilities, there 
were brought to Galatz, by railway, two of the steam- 
launches described on a preceding p>age, and they were at 



STRATEGICAL IMPORTANCE OF GALATZ. 323 

once placed in the Danube. A plentiful provision of 
Whitehead torpedoes accompanied them, and were destined 
to do good execution upon Turkish monitors. The strate- 
gical importance of Galatz is apparent at a glance. Situa- 
ted precisely at the point where the Danube bends east- 
ward at a right-angle, opposite the northern extremity of 
the Bulgarian peninsula called the Dobrudscha, it is mid- 
way between the mouths of the important rivers Pruth 
and Sereth, which flow into the Danube from the north in 
the immediate vicinity. As the Danubian terminus of the 
only railway leading from Russia into Roumania, it was 
necessarily a point through which all the Russian war ma- 
terial must pass. The single bridge across the Sereth 
having been found inadequate to afford sufficiently rapid 
passage to the Russian stores, two more were immediately 
commenced, and two were also thrown across the Pruth, 
near its mouth. The wagon-roads were in wretched condi- 
tion, and were put in repair as rapidly as the weather per- 
mitted. Batteries were, of course, jjlanted at once at all 
strategic points along the Danube, and the bustling com- 
mercial activity of Galatz was well replaced by incessant 
movements in furtherance of strategical designs. 

The weather proved no mean auxiliary to the Turks. 
The spring was unusually stormy, the Danube was higher 
than for years before, and the Roumanian shore for hun- 
dreds of miles along its lower course was converted into a 
vast lagoon. Thus favored, the Turkish monitors patrolled 
the lower Danube with great activity, causing serious incon- 
venience to the Russian pontoniers, and alarm to the citi- 
zens of Galatz. The Russians lost no time in seizing upon 
the Kilia, or northern mouth of the Danube, and took 
measures to imprison the monitors within a limited area by 
the erection of powerful batteries above and below them. 
A few miles above Galatz the river is divided for several 



324 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



miles into two channels, called the Old and the New Dan- 
ube, the former being that nearest the Turkish shore, and 
extending from Hirsova to a point opposite Braila. Taking 
advantage of an occasion when the Turkish turret-ship, 
Luffi Djelil, was at Matchin with several gun-boats, the 
Russians strengthened their batteries at each extremity of 
the channel, thinking to keep the Ottoman flotilla confined 
within the limits of the Old Danube. 

On May 11th, the Lutfi Djelil steamed out of Matchin, 
followed by two gun-boats and proceeded to the junction 
of the two channels, where it stationed itself under cover 
of the wooded promontory of the island, its three masts, 
however, being visible above the trees to the Russian artil- 
lerists near Braila. They opened fire with their light guns, 
but without effect, until two eight-inch guns were brought 
forward, when, writes Mr. Forbes, an eye-witness, "the 
second shot, fired at a high elevation and with a low charge, 
dropped on the deck of the turret-ship and must have 
crushed down into the powder-magazine. Immediately a 
tremendous flash and glare shot up from the interior of 
the doomed craft, followed by a heavy white smoke which 
hung like a pall. Through this white cloud there shot up 
to a great height a spurt of black fragments of all shapes 
and sizes. When the smoke drifted away, all that was 
visible of the turret-ship was her stern, with the mizen- 
mast standing, whence still fluttered the Turkish flag. The 
ship had gone down by the head in shallow water. The 
fore and mainmasts were blown out at once. Two Russian 
steam-launches put off from Braila, boarded the wreck, 
gained the flag, gathered some of the debris and picked up 
two men, the fireman and the engineer, both severely in- 
jured. They report the turret-ship to have had a crew of 
200 men, under the command of Kezim Bey. Fragments 
of the wreckage were picked up down the stream at Galatz. 



DESTRUCTION OF A TURKISH MONITOR. 325 

The Russian enthusiasm in the battery was intense, and 
the officers embraced each other. The Turkish gun-boats 
hurried away abruptly on the explosion of the turret-ship, 
but returned an hour later and fired on the Russian launches. 
The armament of the turret-ship was five guns, of which 
two were nine-inch and two five-inch. Its reported inten- 
tion was to lie quiet until next morning and then bombard 
Braila." 

This success was followed, on May 26th, by the destruc- 
tion of another Turkish monitor, this time by means of 
torpedoes. The following graphic narrative of this exploit 
was derived by Mr. MacGahan, from the statements of the 
Russian officers who accomplished it : 

" The destruction of a Turkish monitor, the other night, 
by torpedoes seems to have been a most brilliant and daring 
exploit. Two steam-launches, with a handful of men, 
steamed boldly into the midst of the Turkish flotilla, placed 
two torpedoes under one of the monitors, and succeeded in 
blowing it up and completely destroying it. This feat, ac- 
complished with impunity, without the loss of a single man, 
is a very remarkable one, and if it can be shown that it 
can be repeated with success, monitors and gun-boats on 
inland rivers will be rendered completely useless, and even 
the modern monster iron-clad, built at such expense, will 
likewise be rendered practically of no avail for any kind of 
service near an enemy's coast. An iron-clad will not even 
be safe at sea, for any kind of ship, even a wooden one^ 
can send out half a dozen steam-launches in the night, 
surround an iron-clad and destroy it with impunity. 

"The little expedition which succeeded in blowing up the 
Turkish monitor was composed of four small steam-launches* 
two of which were to make the attack and the two others 
to hold themselves in readiness to render assistance in case, 
as was probable, of an accident to either of the attacking 



326 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



ones. The two launches which were to make the attack 
were commanded by Lieutenants DubasofF and Shestakoff, 
and manned, one by fourteen and the other by nine men. 
The crews were protected by an iron screen, or awning, 
which covered the boat completely, from stem to stern, and 
which was sufficiently thick to stop a bullet. This screen, 
as well as the boat, was painted black, so as to be scarcely 
distinguishable at night, and the crew were thus protected 
against the fire of small arms, except the man at the wheel, 
who directed the movements of the boat, and who was ne- 
cessarily exposed. The crews embarked in the boats a 
little after twelve o'clock, on Friday night, at a distance of 
about seven miles from where the Turkish monitors were 
lying. The night was dark and rainy, and the clouds com- 
pletely obscured the moon, which, nevertheless, prevented 
the night from being one of complete pitchy darkness. 
There was just enough light to enable them to distinguish 
the dark masses of the Turkish gun-boats without them- 
selves being easily seen. After an hour's steaming, they 
came within the immediate neighborhood of the enemy's 
flotilla. The engines of the launches were so constructed 
as to make very little noise, and when they were slowed 
down all the sound they made was a low, dull kind of 
throbbing noise, that was almost drowned by the continual 
croaking of the frogs, which are very large and very 
numerous along the marshes of the Danube. Nevertheless, 
the quick ear of a Turkish sentinel caught the unusual 
sound, and he cried out, "Who goes there?" in Turkish. 
The boats advanced without replying. The sentinel again 
called out and again remained without an answer. He 
called out the third time, and as it was becoming evident 
that the ship would be alarmed, Lieutenant DubasofF replied 
in Turkish, "Friends," and continued to advance. The 
sentinel, however, was by no means satisfied, and after 



A HEATED CONTEST. 



327 



calling out again two or three times, he finally fired. Then 
the Russians, who were by that time very near the doomed 
monitor, heard a noise in the ship. There was a scuffling 
of feet, the rushing aloft of sailors, cries and shouts, and 
the voice of an officer commanding them to prepare the 
guns for action. They heard the order given for the gun 
in the bow to be fired. They heard it given three times, and 
three times they heard the click of the hammer, showing 
that an attempt had been made to fire, and that the 
gun had refused to go off. Finally, the third time the 
order was given, a globe of flame leaped over the side of 
the gun-boat, and a shell went whistling over their heads. 
They were evidently seen by the Turks. One of the boats, 
that of Shestakoff, now drew off, while that of Dubasoff 
continued to advance. Each boat was armed with two tor- 
pedoes, attached to the end of a long spar that projected 
from the bow. These spars were arranged to move on 
pivots, and could be swung round so as to describe a half- 
circle. The torpedoes were so placed that they could be 
detached from the spars at any moment, and, in addition to 
this, long, light chains were attached to them by which 
they were to be tied on to any projecting part of the 
attacked ship, and they were connected with the boat by a 
fine, flexible wire about a hundred yards long. The officer 
in command carried a small electric battery fastened round 
his chest. ' A lively fusilade had now been opened upon 
the boat by the Turks, but, in spite of this, the launch of 
Dubasoff shot under the bow of the monitor, the chain 
which was fastened to the torpedo was flung round a chain 
or rope which was hanging from the bow of the ship, the 
torpedo was dropped from the spar, and the current of the 
river carried it against the bottom of the ship. The launch 
then shot away again until the full length of the electric 
wire had been reached. The officer applied it to the bat- 



328 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



tery round his chest, and at the same instant a huge volume 
of water rose up into the air, which half-filled and nearly 
swamped DubasofFs launch, and a fearful explosion was 
heard, which completely drowned the shouts, and cries, and 
firing of the Turks. 

" In the meantime the other monitors became alarmed, 
and without knowing the cause, fired at random, and a fearful 
scene of terror and confusion ensued. They not only fired 
on the Russian launches, that still kept dodging about like 
musquitoes, but in their jDanic and confusion fired into each 
other. The bullets rattled over the iron awnings of the 
launches, but did them no harm. They were not once 
struck, although the bow of one was pierced and sunk by 
a piece of a shell that exploded near it. The two launches 
were now on opposite sides of the doomed shij). Dubasoff 
perceived that the monitor was sinking down before, but 
very slowly ; while the Turks continued to fire away 
blindly, but incessantly, both with small arms and cannon. 
Dubasoff cried to Shestakoff to try and place another tor- 
pedo in order to make sure of the ship, and the latter 
slipped in under the stern and put down another torpedo 
in the same manner as the previous one. He then shot off 
until he was at a safe distance, applied the electric battery 
in the same manner, and a still more terrible explosion 
followed. Parts of the ship were blown into the air, as was 
very soon perceived when a large plank a few seconds later 
came down endways, driving its way through the iron 
screens into the boat between two of the sailors who were 
back to back close to each other, without injuring either of 
them. The monitor sank rapidly, and after a few moments, 
nothing but her masts were visible above the water. The 
crew had all either been drowned or escaped by swimming. 
Day now began to break, and the position of the two little 
launches within the near range of the two other Turkish 



FIEST VESSEL DESTROYED BY TORPEDOES. 329 

monitors became very critical. To add to the danger of 
the situation, the screw of one of them got fouled, and the 
boat became unmanageable ; while they perceived a Turk- 
ish launch from one of the other monitors bearing down on 
them. They opened a fire of small arms on the Turkish 
launch, which veered off, and showed no disposition to 
come any closer. One of the sailors got out into the water, 
and after several minutes' exertion succeeded in clearing 
the screw, and the two launches having accomplished their 
mission of destruction, darted off, passed under the fire of 
the two other Turkish gun -boats, escaped unharmed, and 
rejoining their two consorts, returned in triumph to their 
place of starting. The Grand Duke received the news 
within two or three hours later, and the rejoicing among 
the Russians was very great. The two officers and the 
crews of the two boats have all received the Cross of St. 
George. 

" This is the first instance, I believe, in which a vessel has 
been destroyed in time of war by an enemy's torpedoes, and 
the ease with which this was accomplished makes it a most 
important event in naval warfare. What gives it more sig- 
nificance is that the Turks apparently were not taken by 
surprise. They had as much warning as a man-of-war 
could expect under the circumstances, and they found it 
utterly impossible to arrest or injure the swift and terrible 
instruments of destruction that were flitting about them in 
the darkness. The Turks are notoriously bad sailors, but 
it does not appear that even good sailors under such cir- 
cumstances could have done any better. It is almost im- 
possible to hit such a small and rapidly-moving object as 
one of these torpedo-boats with a shell, especially in the 
darkness, while the fire of small arms was useless. It does 
not even seem that the torpedo-netting which has been 
lately invented would have protected a ship against an 



330 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



attack of tliis kind. It should be remembered that unless 
the netting was so high as to prevent the torpedo at the 
end of the spar from being hoisted over it, and considerably 
lower than the keel of the ship, it would be practically 
useless. The torpedo was carried to its place, it should be 
remembered, by the current, and it could be as easily at- 
tached to the netting as to the forechains or any other part 
of the ship. Once the torpedoes should be thrown or 
hoisted over the netting, even were this netting so high as 
to prevent the torpedo being thrown over it, and so low as 
to prevent it from reaching the keel, the men on board the 
launch would apparently have time to cut a hole in it and 
put the torpedo through. The netting might be a defense 
against the Whitehead torpedo. It does not appear that it 
would serve against a bold and daring attack from a torpedo- 
boat. It only remains to be seen whether the exploit can 
be repeated with equal impunity and success, to enable us 
to decide whether our whole system of ship-building is not 
radically wrong. 

" As soon as the news arrived, the Grand Duke sent for 
the two officers who had performed the feat, as he wished 
to hear the story from their own lips, and judge for him- 
self how much was to be attributed to luck, how much to 
skill and science, and whether it would be possible to re- 
peat the experiment under like circumstances. The two 
officers soon arrived, and were lionized to an extent that 
completely overpowered them. They are both young men, 
both very modest, and very unassuming. It is from their 
own lips I have this story." 



CHAPTER XI.' 



ACROSS THE DANUBE. 

The Russian forces which were in position on the Rou- 
manian frontier, at the outbreak of hostilities, consisted of 
six corps, with a total strength of 216,000 men, 49,200 
horses and 648 cannon. Four more corps were soon mo- 
bilized, amounting to 144,000 men, giving a grand total of 
360,000 men. Four of these corps constituted the so-called 
"Army of Operations," under the immediate command of 
the Archduke Nicholas Nicolaieff, with General- Adjutant 
Nepokoitchitsky as chief of staff, and Major-General Le- 
vitsky as second chief. These four corps were known as 
the 8th, commanded by Lieutenant-General Radetsky, with 
Colonel Dmitrowsky as chief of staff; the 9th, under 
Lieutenant-General Baron Krudener, and Major-General 
Schnitnikow as chief of staff; the 11th, under Lieutenant- 
General Prince Schahofskoy, with Colonel Biskupsky as 
chief of staff; and the 12th, under Lieutenant-General 
VannofTski, with Major-General Duckmasson as chief of 
staff. The two other corps were known as the "Army of 
the Black Sea," and had their head-quarters at Odessa. 
The Commander-in-Chief was General-Adjutant Temecko, 
and the chief of staff, Major-General Goremykin. This 
army consisted of the 7th corps, under Lieutenant-General 
Prince Barclay de Tolly- Weimarn, with Major-General 
Janobsky as chief of staff, and the 10th corps, under Lieu- 
tenant-General Prince Woronsow, with Baron Wolski as 
331 



332 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



chief of staff. A corps consisted of two infantry divisions 
and a cavalry division ; an infantry division consisted of 
two brigades ; a brigade of two regiments ; and a regiment 
of three battalions. Each cavalry division bore the same 
number as the corps to which it belonged, and its four 
regiments, namely, dragoons, uhlans, hussars and Don 
Cossacks also bore the same number. There were also two 
brigades of field artillery attached to each cavalry division, 
and six batteries, of eight guns each, attached to each in- 
fantry division. The guns consisted of nine-pounders and 
six-pounders, in equal numbers. Each division was equal 
to 16,000 men, and had 48 guns. In addition to the 216,000 
men above distributed, there were 4 battalions of sappers, 
3 of pontoniers, 10 regiments of Cossacks of the Kuban, 
the Caucasus and the Ural, 1 brigade of rifles, 1 battery 
of mitrailleuses, 3 batteries of mountain guns, 1 company 
of marines of the guard and 2 companies of railway artificers. 

The Chief of the general staff, General Nepokoitchitsky, 
who was probably more influential than any other j)erson 
in determining the course of military operations, was a 
Pole, and is described as a short, square-set, but active- 
looking man, hale and hearty, in spite of his seventy years, 
with snow-white hair, whiskers and moustache. He had 
seen more service than most of the Russian leaders, having 
served in the Caucasus, as well as in Hungary and in the 
Crimean war was chief of staff to General Gortschakoff in 
the army which occupied the Danubian principalities in 
1850-51, and took part under Prince Paskiewitch in the 
memorable siege of Silistria. He had recently been at the 
head of the Commission for the reorganization of the army 
on a new system, and was thought to belong to what may 
be termed the modern school of military organization, 
strategy and tactics, until his mistake before Plevna sup- 
plied a costly corrective to that opinion. 



THE GENERALS SKOBELEFF. 



333 



General Levitsky, the second chief of staff, had been a 
professor in the military academy at St. Petersburg, and 
commander of one of the cavalry regiments of the Guards, 
but had not seen active service. He owed his appointment, 
it was said, to his precision in drill, and his skill on the 
parade-ground, but it will be seen that the selection was 
not a fortunate one. 

The 11th corps was that to which was assigned the honor 
of forming the advance guard, and Prince Schahofskoy con- 
sequently had the chief command in the front at Galatz. 
He is described as a rather thick-set man, with strong shrewd 
face and iron-gray hair and beard, possessing no little 
humor of a dry, sententious character, and a very courteous 
and genial manner. It was not unimportant to the war 
correspondents to whom we are indebted for so many military 
details that the Prince spoke English with fluency and 
precision, as did, in fact, the Grand Duke, General Skobeleff, 
and many other distinguished commanders. 

The two Generals Skobeleff, father and son, were destined 
to figure largely in the war, especially the son, who was the 
youngest general in the army, and whose exploits were more 
brilliant than those of any other. Mr. MacGahan had 
known him intimately in Turkestan, where he had been 
highly distinguished as the conqueror and subsequently the 
governor of Khokand, now known as Ferghana. He was 
thus enabled to call attention to Skobeleff at the outset, and 
to predict the fame he so soon achieved. His portrait is a 
genial one, "a tall, handsome man, with a lithe, slender, 
active figure, a clear, blue eye, and a large, prominent, but 
straight, well-shaped nose, the kind of nose it is said Napoleon 
used to look for among his officers when he wished to find 
a general, and a face young enough for a second lieutenant." 
Skobeleff was at first attached to the Grand Duke's staff, 
but was not long in finding his natural position. 



334 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



The popularity of the war in Russia may be judged from 
the fact that a considerable number of young men belonging 
to the highest ranks of the aristocracy sought and obtained 
leave to enlist as private soldiers, sometimes even at the 
sacrifice of distinguished position in the civil or diplomatic 
service. Among them were Prince Tsertseleff, who had 
been Secretary of the Russian Embassy at Constantinople^ 
and Prince Dolgorouky, who on one occasion served Mr. 
Forbes as escort, dressed as a private soldier, and surprised 
that gentleman by the fluency of his conversation in English 
and the fullness of his knowledge of every capital in Europe. 

The Russians had entered Jassy, the capital of Moldavia, 
on the day after the declaration of war, and a small force 
reached Bucharest, two days later. Though there was a 
previous understanding with the Roumanian Government, 
dating from April 16th, the position of the latter was, during 
the first two months of the war, highly anomalous. Rou- 
mania was neither at war nor at peace. Left to herself, she 
would have preferred peace even to the assurance of victory, 
but the tide of events compelled her to throw herself unre- 
servedly into the Russian balance. But of this hereafter. 
At the moment of the arrival of the Russian forces, Rou- 
mania still affected neutrality, but mobilized her army, in 
order to be prepared for any event. Prince Charles, the 
"Donmu" of Roumania, is too genuine a Hohenzollern not 
to be fond of the pomp and circumstance of war. His 
efforts for many years had been directed to the creation of 
an army, and as the result proved, with very good success. 
In May, the Roumanian army, ready to take the field, con- 
sisted of two full corps, each numbering 28,000 men, well 
equipped. One corps was distributed along the Danube in 
Little Wallachia, the region extending from the Hungarian 
frontier to the River Aluta, the other was retained in the 
vicinity of the capital. 



KOUMANIAN INDEPENDENCE. 



335 



By the Convention of April 16th, Roumania had agreed 
to offer no resistance to the passage of the Russian forces, 
the necessary use of her railways and the military occu- 
pation of her territory during the short time which it was 
supposed would suffice for the Russians to establish them- 
selves beyond the Danube, in Bulgaria. In return, it was 
stipulated that the "integrity of Roumanian territory" 
should be guaranteed by the Czar, and that the Principality 
should be handsomely compensated in gold for the incon- 
veniences of Russian oecupation. /The Rouma nian ^ Far- 
liament was assembled at the moment of the Russian ad- 
vance, and, after considerable debate, the Convention was 
ratified in secret session, April 28th. The progress of 
events, howevei, soon made it evident that Roumania must 
assert and make good her renunciation of Turkish sov- 
ereignty, since the Sultan, early in May, had declared Frince 
Charles to be deposed, and on May 21st, the Parliament 
issued a declaration of Roumanian independence. This 
step, though not for the moment accompanied by a declara- 
tion of war, rendered it necessary to provide for the defense 
of Roumanian territory against an expected Turkish inva- 
sion. To this task Prince Charles immediately addressed 
himself. 

Having disposed his army to meet probable exigen- 
cies, Prince Charles made a tour of inspection of his corps 
on the frontier, attended by Colonel Cernat, Minister of 
War, Colonel Staniceana, chief of the head-quarters staff, 
Colonel Vacaresco, Marechal of the Court, Staff-Mayor 
Lahovari, aide-de-camp to the Prince and head-quarters 
commandant, Colonel Greceanu, aide-de-camp to Colonel 
Cernat, Gaptain Maurocordato, Colonel Dochtouroff, Rus- 
sian Military Commissioner with the Roumanian army, 
and Colonel Gaillard, French military attache at the head- 
quarters of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian army. 



336 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Accompanying, but not attending the Prince, were Com- 
modore DemetresaB Maican, commander of the Roumanian 
flotilla, and several other naval officers, who, with a num- 
ber of sailors, were going for the purpose of commanding 
and manning the batteries bordering the Danube. On his 
way, the Prince was everywhere met with demonstrations 
of warm enthusiasm and hearty regard, and at Corbu and 
other stations he met detachments of the Russian army 
en route to the frontier, who were paraded for his inspec- 
tion. The entire journey to the frontier was calculated to 
encourage and cheer the gallant Prince and his company, 
and there were not wanting amidst the more sober and dig- 
nified incidental demonstrations of an amusing turn ; thus, 
at Poleovo, the last station on the route westward to Slatina, 
the party was detained for some hours in consequence of 
an accident on the railway. General BelokopilofT was here 
with a battalion of the 122d Russian regiment, and after 
it had been paraded for the Prince's inspection, the gene- 
ral, to pass the time of the delay more pleasantly, called 
out " the singing contingent " of the battalion ; they com- 
prised about 300 fine-looking men. Arranging themselves 
in a circle upon the platform, one of the number took his 
station in the midst, and with a sparkle of mirth in his 
eyes, sang a humorous ditty, said to have been an impro- 
visation, which was greeted with frequent outbursts of 
delighted laughter from his comrades, and afforded much 
amusement to the royal chief and his staff ; it was attune 
with the spirit of the times, referring to all the obvious 
aspects of the war, abounding in eulogistic allusions to the 
Russian Government, officers and soldiery, and those of 
their allies, and in far from complimentary allusions to the 
Turks, while England and her course were criticised with 
as little respect. At the close of each verse there was a 
strong ringing chorus, participated in by the entire " con- 



THE JOURNEY OF THE PEINCE. 



337 



tingent." After the song came a wild, grotesque, but not 
inelegant dance, by a gray-haired corporal ; then another 
song accompanied by a tambourine; then an accordion 
solo; then a lively jig by two privates, accompanied by the 
two instruments, and finally, a plaintive song sung by a 
very sweet voice, and with genuine feeling and good taste. 
At length the road was repaired, and the party went on to 
Slatina, where Baron Krudener with the 9th corps was 
awaiting their arrival, and the country around was occu- 
pied by large camps of Russian soldiery, near the bank of 
the Aluta, being one of a fine body of Cossacks. Along 
the Aluta the Roumanian troops had built numerous bat- 
tery emplacements and shelter trenches for protection 
should the Turks cross the Danube at Kalafat and attempt 
an eastward march through the principality. At Krajova 
the Prince received an enthusiastic welcome. There being 
no railroad from Krajova to Kalafat, this portion of the 
journey was necessarily accomplished in wagons — a slow, 
tedious method — but fortunately it was through a region 
of rare beauty and richness, while at intervals the people 
had erected on the roadside tempting bowers of green oak 
branches, carpeted with new-mown grass strewn with roses 
and lilacs, while within each they had constructed a right 
royal throne, its back of rose-buds, its arms of locust-tree 
boughs, laden with their sweet blossoms. In each of these 
delightful shelters, the Prince was constrained to rest, and 
he and his escort were bountifully supplied with refresh- 
ments, chiefly the preserved fruit for which the people are 
noted ; meanwhile, the lads and lasses in their gayest holi- 
day attire, with flowers in their hands, and wreaths about 
their waists, gathered near the front of the bower, and 
danced the chorus to the music of fiddles ; the repast being 
ended, the daughter of the mayor presented a nosegay of 
roses to the Prince, and the jDarty returned to their convey- 
ances and resumed their iournev. 



338 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



At last, they struck the Danube at Golenz, and the in- 
spection began in earnest. Thence, they proceeded to the 
most important point on the western frontier of Eoumania, 
Kalafat, important not only, not chiefly, on account of the 
extensive and powerful fortifications there, but more on 
account of its close proximity to the famous Widdin. At 
Kalafat are still seen the outlines and fragments of the for- 
tifications of generations of invaders and defenders, some of 
which still attest the valor of those who, centuries ago, con- 
tested the possession of the region. At the entrance to the 
recently-erected works, Prince Charles was met by General 
Lupu, commanding the corps, and Colonel Tcherkess, com- 
manding the division in and about Kalafat. Here the 
Prince found four batteries armed, two with field-guns, on 
the bluff, and two with long 25-pounder 15-centimetre can- 
non, on the water's edge; these were well manned, and in camp 
was a fine brigade of infantry; having inspected this 
brigade, the Prince and his j3arty returned to Battery, No. 
1, where arrangements having been perfected, a few shots 
were fired into Widdin ; though this was the first time the 
big guns were discharged, the range and aim proved accu- 
rate, so much so, that the Turks were aroused to return a 
tardy fire, but without damage ; this return fire served to 
show the Prince that his gunners were steady and reliable, 
inasmuch as they did not flinch, though three of the Turk's 
shells exploded within the battery. Altogether, the in- 
spection proved highly satisfactory, not only to the warlike 
Prince and his staff, but not less so to Colonel DochtourofF, 
the [Russian Military Commissioner. 

We have paused in our direct narration of the Russian 
preparations for crossing the Danube, because it is well to 
note the condition of Roumania and its ability to assist the 
Russians by the full protection of its own territory against 
Turkish invasion — an inrportant assistance, for as Roumania 



RUSSIAN OFFICERS AT BUCHAREST. 



339 



was necessarily the base of Russian aggressive movements 
in Europe, it must be well guarded, if not by its own 
forces, then by those of Russia. Since, therefore, Prince 
Charles was fully able to garrison and guard his own 
frontiers, Russia was relieved of all anxiety in this par- 
ticular and enabled to employ her entire available army in 
Europe in aggressive enterprises. 

Our readers, or many of them, will recollect the impa- 
tience evinced by our people at home, by the press which 
so truly echoes public sentiment, and to some extent by the 
army, when the Union commanders appeared tardy in 
moving "on to Richmond." The papers teemed with com- 
plaints and advice, and frequently indulged in denunci- 
ations, and everywhere "home-guard" patriots could be 
heard warmly censuring the successive commanders, the 
War Secretary and the President by no means escaping a 
full measure of the blame. And now, when week after 
week rolled on into a month, and yet on into nearly two 
months, with the Russians still tarrying in Roumania, 
military wiseacres in America no less than in Europe, were 
not few, nor were they modest or moderate in their crit- 
icisms — newspaper editors and paragraphists wrote, and 
those who had no paper-medium for the ventilation of 
their wisdom talked, and yet the Danube was not crossed! 
The telegraph kept us advised not only of the news, but as 
this was scarce its dearth was supplied by a liberal quantum 
of rumors, and yet the Danube was not crossed ! It was 
certainly provoking, especially to the paper tacticians, that 
Russia would not cross, and would vouchsafe no explana- 
tions of its disregard for advice ! But while neither the 
Russian civil nor military authorities offered a word of ex- 
cuse or explanation to appease the displeasure or allay the 
impatience of papers or people, an occasional war corre- 
spondent, being on the spot, was shrewd enough to see or 



340 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



suspect the causes of the delay in crossing; among all the 
correspondents at the several head-quarters, Russian and 
Turkish, none were superior, few equal, to those attached 
to the London Daily News, and of these, perhaps, the most 
successful, alike in the brilliant and attractive style of his 
letters, in the actual news he succeeded in gathering and 
conveying, in the sound judgment he displayed in his 
estimates of men and measures, and in his acute penetra- 
tion in discovering the causes or purposes of movements 
and failures to move, was Archibald Forbes. 

Even now, after the complete triumph of the Russian 
arms has attested the superior generalship of the Russian 
commanders, as compared with those of the Turks, we 
feel that we cannot better describe the situation ante- 
rior to, and state the causes of the delay in, the cross- 
ing of the Danube, than in his words written three 
weeks before the event; we quote from a letter bear- 
ing date June 1st, 1877; he writes from Bucharest, and 
opens with a characteristic description of the officers and 
men then in and about that city. Of the officers, he says: 
" Russian officers swarm in Bucharest, making the most of 
the days of ease in the interval between a long march and 
an arduous campaign. * * * They like to sit in the 
sunshine outside the cafe doors, or at the tables in some 
tree-shaded restaurant-garden, and as they drink tea to listen 
to music. * * * They gather around a casual piano 
in the salle a manger of a hotel, and if they fight as well as 
they play and sing, a better army than that with which the 
Turks oppose them could have no chance against them. 
They are studiously polite and courteous when occasion 
calls for intercourse between them and the people of the 
land they have entered, or others ; but withal, except in 
some exceptional instances, they do not court such inter- 
course, and through their courtesy there runs a vein of 




TURKISH OUTPOST ON THE DANUBE. 




ALARM IN A TURKISH CAVALRY CAMP. 



CAUSES OF RUSSIAN DELAY. 



341 



obvious reserve." Of the men, lie says: "The men of 
the ranks abide in their camps with a calm, sedate content- 
ment, as if they had been used from their childhood to live 
under canvas or crammed into small villages on the broad 
plains of Koumania, within sight of the spires of its 
capital. Nowhere is there evident any excitement, any 
confusion, any bustle, any swagger. But for the occasional 
clouds of dust in the suburban roads, the strings of troop 
horses watering in the pools and brooks, the provision trains 
defiling through the by-streets and the stranger officers in 
their white coats and caps pervading the town, the chance 
visitor to Bucharest would find it hard to realize that his 
visit was not paid in the times of peace." 

The writer then alludes to the arrival of the Russian 
Emperor at his son's head-quarters, at Ployesti, and adds: 
"The event is regarded throughout the Russian army as the 
immediate herald of active offensive operations on a large 
scale. ]STo doubt the present apparent pause has been, if 
not absolutely necessary, at all events essentially wise ; but 
it is well that it should come to a close as early as may be. 
There are some who argue that time compulsorily spent in 
inaction a few marches off the Danube has rather a bene- 
ficial effect than otherwise, since it is alleged the enemy is 
suffering from the tension of the strain. But I question 
whether time in one sense is not as valuable to the enemy 
as it is in another sense to the Russians. The Turks are 
always behindhand ; but every day of respite they gain 
enables them to be less behindhand. They can reinforce 
points which seem threatened; they can throw up or 
strengthen batteries; they can drill their rawer troops; 
surely it is .possible even for a Turkish intendance to accu- 
mulate stores faster than they are being consumed. To this 
I can at least testify that the Rustchuk of to-day is to the 
eye a very difierent place in its potentialities of defense from 



342 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



what it was five weeks ago, when I saw it first. The prin- 
ciple on which the Russians are acting is perfectly clear. 
They are determined to leave nothing to chance ; they will 
run no rash risk of sustaining a reverse for want of pre- 
paration to avert such a reverse. Of course, they might 
have been across the Danube a fortnight ago, if not sooner. 
Large as the river is, daring men might have crossed it 
in boats, made good a footing on the other side, and set 
themselves to cover the construction of bridges. Possibly, 
probably, all would have gone well. But then all might 
not have gone well ; and although in itself a mischance 
might not have been of very serious import, yet the misfor- 
tune would have produced consequences which it would 
have been very unwise to risk. Steadily, really quickly, 
although seemingly slowly, are the masses gathering for 
the invasion. Every day brings its regiment, its brigade, 
its battery, up into the position chosen for the awaiting of 
the order to fall in in stern earnest. Gradually the huge 
wave is gathering. Its mass is slowly drifting rather than 
moving forward. But where the weight of it will fall in 
thunder, still remains concealed with a care and skill that 
evoke the sincerest admiration. I have visited most of the 
likely crossing points on the Danube. I have been to and 
fro among the Russian forces in the front line more than 
most people. I am almost singular in the possession of 
exceptional facilities for going in and out unimpeded about 
the Russian lines. I have not a few friends among Russian 
officers. But this I declare, that no specific indications are 
patent to me regarding the crossing points at which the 
serious attempts to pass the Danube will be made. I will 
not descend to the disingenuous subterfuge of averring that 
I am in possession of information which I am not at liberty 
to communicate ; I frankly own myself wholly devoid of 
any information of the kind which, for my own guidance, 



DIFFICULTIES OF CROSSING THE DANUBE. 343 

I should like extremely well to possess. Inferences are 
open to me, as to everybody, but of these inferences I must 
admit the comparitive weakness ; and there is a certain 
ruefulness in the sincerity with which I venture to con- 
gratulate the Russian military authorities on the admirable 
skill and finesse with which, down to a point necessarily so 
near the denouement, they have succeeded in concealing 
the details of their plans. 

" There exists a general belief that the Emperor means to 
be an eye-witness of the operation of the crossing of the 
main column of invasion, and it is averred, indeed, that he 
has the design of actually making the campaign. You 
will then, to all appearance, not have long to wait for more 
interesting tidings from the Danube than the petty details 
of skirmishing which have constituted hitherto the bulk of 
the intelligence. The difficulties of the crossing will be 
materially enhanced by the almost unprecedented height of 
the Danube at this season. It has been contended that 
these difficulties are insuperable, and that the Russian 
armies have no alternative but to remain quiescent until the 
abating of the waters. But this, at least, I can state with 
confidence, that the Russian engineers do not share this 
conviction. While admitting that the flooded state of the 
great river renders their task greatly more arduous, they 
profess their ability to overcome the difficulty in their way, 
when their orders are to make the attempt. The modus 
operandi of the crossing is a fair subject on which to 
speculate." 

Hereupon he proceeds, in the usual " war correspondent " 
style, showing that he really belongs to the genus, to deliver 
his opinions of the best, or rather the only practicable method 
by which the Russians could cross and make good their 
footing upon the Bulgarian shore ; but though he betrays 
more than the average insight into the true modus operandi, 



344 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



we omit this portion of his letter, especially as the Russians 
did not follow his plans in all respects. His account of a 
visit to certain officers at some little distance from the capi- 
tal, is well worthy of the space it will occupy : 

" Being desirous of paying my respects to General Ra- 
detsky, commanding the 8th corps, who has been good 
enough to invite me to attach myself to that corps when 
active operations commence, I drove to Jilava, where his 
head-quarters are for the present. Jilava is a village about 
eight miles from Bucharest, on the main road towards Giur- 
gevo. The general is for the time leading a quiet rural life 
in a pretty villa situated in the midst of a large garden 
some distance from the road. The village is chiefly occu- 
pied by the staff and intenclance officers of the corps ; the 
mass of the troops being further distant from Bucharest in 
a southerly direction, disposed in temporary cantonments 
in the villages scattered over the face of the country. After 
some conversation with Colonel Dniitrowsky, the chief of 
the staff of the 8th corps, I went on some miles further 
along the chaussee to visit General Dragomiroff, who com- 
mands a division (the 14th) of the 8th corps, to which, with 
the general's kind permission, I mean more closely to at- 
tach myself. The division's head-quarters are for the 
present in the pretty hamlet of Kerate, and Genera-1 Dra- 
gomiroff abides in a beautiful and spacious chateau, which 
once belonged to a Briton. Being closely surrounded by 
trees and in the centre of a park, his quarters were not easy 
to find, and it became necessary to inquire the direction of 
some officers in a house at whose gate the green flag, token 
of the quarters of a ' Polkovnik ' — a colonel commanding 
a regiment — was flying. The colonel himself, Colonel Du- 
honin, chief of the 55th regiment, was civil enough to 
answer my questions, and in a gossiping conversation which 
ensued, to give me a quantity of very interesting informa- 



RUSSIAN INFANTRY ORGANIZATION. 



345 



tion. He had open before him the regimental money-chest, 
and he and the paymaster were counting out rouleaux of 
gold five-rouble pieces to pay for sundry current expendi- 
tures. He told me that the Russian officers draw their pay 
monthly, the rank and file being paid every quarter, at the 
rate of one silver rouble, or four shillings per month. This 
is his pocket-money, or, as the colonel put it, his ' tobacco- 
money/ tobacco from his point of view being the only 
article of luxury on which the Russian soldier need have 
any call to expend money. This is about the same rate of 
free pay as accrues to the French soldier of the line, and 
considerably under the Prussian allowance, which, if I re- 
member rightly, is 2hd. per diem. 

" To illustrate the method of attack in the Russian army, 
which is as in the German army by the company column, 
the colonel called four of his orderlies, each one to repre- 
sent a company, and stationed them in what is called the 
'cross' formation; that is, there stood a man representing 
a company at each of the four points of the figure of the 
cross. They moved forward maintaining these relative 
positions : they changed direction to right or to left, still 
maintaining the same; in the former case the company 
which had been the right flanking company becoming the 
leading company — in other words, marching at the head 
of the cross ; in the latter case, the previous left flanking 
company taking the leading position. He told me that 
in each battalion there was one company of tirailleurs, or 
light infantry, whose duty it was more especially to skir- 
mish. On occasion the tirailleur companies might be 
massed, if a rifle battalion or brigade were required; but 
this, in the nature of things, would be seldom. There is, 
he said, no cavalry attached to an infantry division of the 
Russian army, with the exception of a few Cossacks to act 
as orderlies and carry despatches ; all the cavalry of each 



346 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



corps is massed into the cavalry division of that corps and 
operates independently. He pointed out that the different 
regiments are known — first, by the number of the regiment 
in front of the cap ; and, secondly, by the facings, as with 
us, or rather it might be said by the color of the collar 
patches. Thus the facings of his regiment, the 55th, are 
white — those of the twin regiment in the same brigade, 
the 56th, are blue." 

In this connection, after giving Mr. Forbes's description 
of the quiet decorum that prevailed at Bucharest in the 
midst of war preparations, we yield to the temptation to 
quote briefly from a letter by another of the able corre- 
spondents of the Daily News, a similar account of the con- 
dition and aspect of affairs at Giurgevo, the letter being 
dated June 5th : " Nothing could be more delightful than 
the view I have from my window here on the banks of the 
Danube. Immediately in front of me is a boulevard with 
gravel walks, green trees, benches and little round tables — 
the boulevard made by the Russians when they were here 
in 1854 — with a Russian sentinel now pacing up and down 
in front of it. Beyond, at a distance of twenty yards, are 
five or six small ships moored to the quay, and beyond 
them the Danube, more than a mile wide, rolling, its swift, 
muddy waters along, in a noisy, angry, threatening man- 
ner, as though determined to remain an impassable barrier 
forever to the two armies waiting on its shores. On the other 
side are steep, abrupt banks, which here and there, how- 
ever, melt away into grassy slopes that come down to the 
water's edge in a gentle incline, offering every facility for 
the landing of troops. Then a little higher up the river 
the tall, slender minarets and gilded domes of Rustchuk, 
which glisten and burn in the sunshine in a wonderful way ; 
and behind the town the green hills of Bulgaria, covered 
with orchards, vineyards, pasture-fields and clumps of trees, 



A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW ACROSS THE DANUBE. 347 

among which, may be seen, here and there, long lines and 
hillocks of fresh earth, the newly-constructed earthworks 
and defenses of the Turks. The hills rise up against the 
sky, where their summits are drawn in clear, distinct lines; 
and along them might be seen thousands of white specks, 
that look about the size of eggs, that come out bright in 
the sunlight, and disappear when a cloud darkens the land- 
scape, and which, seen through the field-glass, take the size 
and shape of tents. They are the tents of the Turkish 
army, which may be seen here and there all over the 
slopes, half-hidden among the gardens and trees, and may 
be counted by the hundred and the thousand. Far down 
below me the river widens out to the dimensions of a lake, 
and covers miles and miles of land, which during ordinary 
seasons is never reached by the high waters. Here and 
there are little islands and clumps of trees standing in the 
water up to their waists, as if trying to keep cool, and look- 
ing in the distance like mirages I have seen in the desert 
of the Kizil Koum. 

" The broad, swiftly-flowing river, the green hills rising 
behind to the sky, the white tents of the enemy, the slen- 
der minarets and glistening domes, the blue sky and the 
warm sunshine bathing it all in a glorious sea of light, make 
up a picture such as is rarely seen. There are few of the 
sights and still fewer of the sounds of war, and a man 
having heard nothing of the outbreak of hostilities, who 
should be dropped down here suddenly on the banks of the 
Danube in the midst of the peaceful picture, would prob- 
ably see nothing to make him suspect that even amidst this 
beautiful scene armies are confronting each other, that the 
storm of battle mav break over it and change this slum- 
bering tranquility into the fierce uproar and din of war. 
He might be astonished by a Cossack dashing madly 
through the streets from time to time, and if he looked 



348 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



more closely and knew the uniforms, he might be surprised 
by observing a post of Russian soldiers just below the town 
on the banks of the river ; but he might remain here forty- 
eight hours, as I have done, without seeing anything fur- 
ther to excite his suspicions, and give him the idea that 
he was in the midst of war. What would seem most sus- 
picious is the tranquility and absence of ships and boats on the 
Danube. There are no steamers ploughing their way up and 
down its muddy waters, no rafts floating lazily down in the 
warm sunshine, no sailing-boats, no fishing-boats, no river- 
ships, excej3t three or four moored to the quay in front of 
the boulevard. The waters of the Danube are for once as 
untroubled by man as though no human being inhabited 
its banks and the art of navigation had never been in- 
vented. And then there is something suspicious in the 
mysterious tranquility of the other shore ; no sound is heard, 
no human being can be seen, even through a glass. The 
green hills lie asleep in the golden sunshine, as dreamy 
and still as though no human being had ever trod their 
grassy slopes. 

" The town of Giurgevo is nearly deserted. All the people 
who were able left soon after the declaration of war; nearly 
all the shops are closed, and only those remain behind who 
have nowhere to go and no friends to receive them. The 
town is a dreary, deserted, lonely-looking place, which, but 
for an occasional Cossack dashing through the streets, re- 
minds one of those dying cities of Belgium and Holland 
where there are more houses than people, and where one 
may walk about the streets for hours without meeting a 
single soul. But there is a circus here, and the circus re- 
mains in spite of the flight of the inhabitants and the 
threats of bombardment. This circus does not seem to 
have ever been in a very flourishing condition, which will 
appear from the assertion of the circus people themselves 



THE GENERALS SKOBELEFF FATHER AND SON. 349 

that they have not left the place for the simple reason that 
they had not enough money with which to go away. 

" Giurgevo and the banks of the Danube, both above and 
below, are occupied by the Cossacks of the Kuban, or Cir- 
cassian Cossacks, under the command of General Skobe- 
leff. These Cossacks, it may be stated, with the exception 
of one or two regiments, are not Circassians, although they 
wear the same uniform, the long coat reaching below the 
knees, with a row of cartridges across the breast, sheepskin 
cap, a dagger and the shushka, or curved sword without a 
guard. This costume was adopted before the Caucasus was 
conquered, by the Cossacks who formed the line of outposts 
that guarded the frontier, and it seems to have been done 
in order more readily to deceive the enemy, and enable the 
Cossacks to employ all those ruses of war for which they 
are so famous, and which their regular organization and 
knowledge of the number and whereabouts of all their own 
troops, enabled them to do with comparative ease." 

Tiie writer then notices the two Generals Skobeleff, the 
senior being in command at Giurgevo and thereabouts, with 
his son as chief of staff, for the present ; we have given 
sketches of these heroes above ; he then proceeds to note 
a visit to them, and we quote : 

"I found them living in a small house just in front of 
the boulevard, which had been abandoned by its proprietors. 
All the furniture had been carried away, and they were 
encamped rather than lodged, with only their camp bag- 
gage to furnish the empty rooms. At the time of my 
arrival they were dining in a little garden attached to the 
house, in the shade of some fruit-trees, and I was immedi- 
ately invited to share their repast, after which General 
Skobeleff, Senior, took me with him on a visit to the ad- 
vanced post up the river. The road here passes within two 
or three hundred yards of the Danube, through fields partly 



350 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



under cultivation, bits of wood, gardens and orchards. 
Sometimes on the river bank we passed a post of from 
three to twenty Cossacks, to whom the General put a ques- 
tion or two or delivered an order as we drove by. All the 
houses along the road were abandoned, as the people living 
on the banks of the river had withdrawn into the interior, 
although they come down and cultivate the fields, and in 
many places we saw the peasants tilling the ground and 
preparing for the coming harvest. 

"After a three miles' drive we were directly opposite 
Rustchuk. We got out of the carriage and walked down to 
the river banks. There were several fields here under the 
highest state of cultivation. They were planted with onions, 
beet-roots and garlic, exceedingly well cared for, and I was 
astonished to see there was here a system of irrigation, by 
means of water raised from the Danube. Little streams of 
water were running everywhere through the fields, and we 
soon came to a huge irrigation-wheel, on the very brink of 
the water, at which two horses were working, attended by 
a lazy boy, who lay down in the shade of a shed, and threw 
stones at the horses when they stopped. We sat down by 
the side of a small haystack, and jxroceeded to reconnoitre 
Rustchuk. The river here was, I suppose, nearly a mile 
wide, and poured its waters along in a clear, heavy and 
solid stream that filled the banks quite full. There were 
several small steamers moored along the water's edge, at 
the foot of the town, among which could be distinguished 
three monitors, lying in close to the shore. General Sko- 
belefF expressed a longing for a steam-launch and a few 
torpedoes, to try his hand at blowing them up. All was 
the most perfect stillness and quiet in Rustchuk, the only 
movement visible being that of three flags waving in the 
wind, on which we could distinguish, through our glasses, 
the crescent and the star, and three or four times I caught 



QUAKER GUNS IN POSITION. 



351 



the faint sound of a trumpet borne across to us on the 
breeze, showing that beneath the calm exterior the Turks 
were alive and awake. Finally, another sign of life was 
manifested by one of the steamers getting under way, and 
moving slowly down towards Giurgevo, closely hugging 
the shore. She glided down, slipped round a point, and 
disappeared from our sight. We then proceeded higher 
up the river to a battery, which stood a couple of hundred 
yards from the water. The embankments, counterscarp 
and every other part was completely overgrown with grass. 
It was an old earthwork, that had been constructed here 
in 1854, and had remained intact ever since. There were 
sentinels pacing up and down before it, and through the 
embrasures I could see, as we drove by, what appeared to 
be some very heavy cannon. I was considerably surprised 
and amused on being informed by General Skobeleff that 
these heavy guns, which seemed to be threatening Rust- 
chuk, were made of straw, and that they had occupied 
this outwork fully two weeks. This was an idea of General 
Skobeleff, Junior, who, having occupied the position without 
any artillery, had determined to impose upon the Turks 
by mounting straw cannon. The ruse had succeeded, ap- 
parently, for the Turks had not dared to open fire upon 
them, and on looking over the English papers, I found tele- 
grams from Rustchuk a day or two after these straw batteries 
were mounted, announcing that the Russians had occupied 
the positions about Giurgevo, and had mounted several 
batteries with very heavy siege guns. The fact is, that the 
real siege guns were only on their way from Galatz to 
Bucharest, and did not arrive until a few days later. They 
will alreacly have arrived and been placed in position by the 
time this letter appears in print, so that there is no indiscre- 
tion in my informing the Turks of the trick that has been 
played upon them. A little higher up we came to a tete- 



352 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



de-pont, grown over with grass, quite green, which had 
also been constructed by the Turks in 1854. The Rus- 
sians had not occupied it. Still higher up was a village, 
where was posted a large detachment of Cossacks. The 
inhabitants had all retired to the interior, taking their 
furniture and effects with them, and the Cossacks had the 
village all to themselves. Some had occupied the houses, 
while others preferred bivouacking in the shade of the 
trees. Some were asleep, some tending and feeding their 
horses, others cleaning their arms. Here and there, two or 
three gathered around a fire, cooking the afternoon meal, 
and others again, stretched out at full length in the shade, 
fast asleep. The latter were evidently those who had been 
on picket duty during the night. We were received here 
by the colonel of the regiment, a very active and intelligent 
officer, who, although a full-bred Cossack, spoke French 
perfectly, and knew a little English. He further joresented 
me to several of his officers, three or four more of whom I 
found spoke either French, English or German, giving one 
a very different idea of the intelligence and education of 
the Cossacks from that which is generally entertained. 
The greater part of these Cossack officers are, in fact, rich 
men in their own country, have received a good education, 
and have traveled, and seen more or less of the world. 
The men themselves are tall and athletic, and have a very 
intelligent look, and they are far superior in this respect to 
the ordinary Russian soldier. As evening was now ap- 
proaching, the colonel invited us to supper, which was 
spread in the shade of a large apple-tree in one of the 
gardens; and, although this was an extremely advanced post, 
the supper he gave us was certainly as good as any which 
could be obtained in any hotel, either in Ployesti or Giurgevo. 
The piece de resistance was shashliks or kibobs, roasted on 
sticks over the fire, than which there is nothing better." 



FKOM KALAFAT TO GIUKGEVO. 353 

The writer tells of another short excursion with the 
younger General Skobeleff. Everywhere quiet and good 
order prevailed, but everywhere there was unmistakable 
zeal and steady, systematic preparation for the coming ad- 
vance. Meanwhile, Mr. Forbes, wearied by the quiet and 
inaction at Kalafat, had come to Giurgevo, and he writes a 
letter under the same date, June 5th, from this town, by 
which we learn that, on the day before, the monotonous, 
humdrum life there had been relieved by a few shells from 
the Turkish batteries at Rustchuk, but these had effected 
no damage beyond the breaking of a window-pane or two 
in the building and pavilions of the hotel of Giurgevo, 
the ploughing up of numerous spots and the boring of 
holes in a few trees in the garden attached thereto, and the 
alarming of some of the few native Giurgevites who had 
had sufficient courage to remain at their homes when the 
masses had tied at the near approach of war. But this 
day, the 5th, passed without the slightest warlike demon- 
stration on either side beyond the moving from her moorings 
at Rustchuk of one of the Turkish monitors, which moved 
swiftly away down the stream and was soon out of sight. 

At other points on the Danube, as at Turna Magurelli, 
where Nicopolis confronted * the Russian batteries on the 
opposite shore, the situation was about the same as at 
Kalafat and Widdin, Giurgevo and Rustchuk — except an 
occasional firing of a few shots either from the one or the 
other side, at times replied to by like compliments and at 
other times treated with disdainful silence, and the frequent 
moving of more or less considerable bodies of troops from 
point to point, the chief indication of war was to be found 
in the stillness and apparent inactivity under which the 
preparations for the impending conflicts were sought to be 
concealed by both Russians and Turks. It was "all quiet 
on the Danube!" to all appearances. 
23 



354 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



Looking back now to the history of the crossing of the 
Danube, we can see that Mr. Forbes was correct in his 
opinion expressed before the movement, that "The plan of 
campaign [on the part of the Russians,] has been devised 
on the basis of leaving as little as possible to chance/' and 
" The swollen state of the Danube has had but little influ- 
ence on the Russian dispositions. Had the Danube been 
going down, as is its normal wont in the month of June, 
no doubt they might have pressed on their preparations 
for the crossing of it; but, looking to the magnitude of 
their arrangements and their choice of crossing-places, it 
is doubtful whether, even if the Danube had been prac- 
ticable earlier, the preparations could have been sufficiently 
far advanced to admit of the crossing in force being ac- 
complished sooner than now" (June 19th). 

But, as our readers are aware, the first actual crossing 
was from Brail a, or rather from Galatz, and it is necessary 
that we turn our attention for a time to that vicinity. It 
will be recollected that, immediately upon the declaration 
of war by Russia, her forces occupied Galatz, but that, 
without delay, the greater part of the army was moved to 
Giurgevo and Turna Magurelli, and that the army was 
massed at and between these .two strongholds. Hence, it 
was early concluded by the Turks and others, that the 
crossing would be somewhere hereabouts. But the Rus- 
sians kept a considerable force, about 70,000 men, at 
Galatz and Braila and in their vicinity, while it would ap- 
pear that the Turks had concentrated almost their entire 
available army at Silistria, Rustchuk, Sistova, Nicopolis 
and Widdin, leaving the Dobrudscha but indifferently 
guarded. However, though no one anticipated that any 
serious attempt to cross here was intended, the Russians 
had been by no means idle, as the destruction of a turret- 
ship and a monitor, elsewhere narrated, may show 



THE BRIDGE AT BBAILA— GETCHET. 



355 



At length, on the 11th of June, the Russians commenced 
the erection of a bridge across from Braila to Getchet. 
The chief difficulty Captain Klemenka, the engineer in 
charge, encountered in building the bridge was, that the 
ground on the Bulgarian shore was almost entirely sub- 
merged, while what was not covered was little better ; the 
Turks did not interfere, although the work was prosecuted 
from both sides. Mr. MacGahan's description of this 
bridge is interesting, as showing the care and engineering 
skill bestowed upon its construction : 

" On the way back I was introduced to the young officer 
who had built the bridge, Captain Klemenka, and as he 
offered to take me oyer it and show it to me, I accepted the 
invitation. It is a splendid piece of work, strong enough 
to carry over the heaviest artillery, and is evidently made 
to last a long time. The first 1,600 feet from the Rouma- 
nian shore is trestle-work, built along over the railway, 
which, before the inundation, ran down to the edge of the 
river, where it was met by the ferry-boat. Part of the rail- 
way has been swept away, and even that which remains is 
still under w T ater, and the bridge is now some five feet 
higher than the railway track under it. The bridge is 
made of immense wooden trestles on benches, exceedingly 
strong and solid, and they are put down on sleepers which 
lie along on the ground. Over this is laid a roadway of 
planks which is only wide enough for one wagon or can- 
non to pass. At the end of this trestle-work we come to 
the bridge proper, which is not constructed on pontoons, 
but on immense rafts. The length of this part of the 
bridge is 1,750 feet, and there are 50 rafts in all. These 
rafts are composed of long pieces of beautiful timber, whole 
trunks of trees from 60 to 80 feet long, and from 15 to 20 
inches in diameter at the large end. From eight to ten 
pieces compose each raft, and they are solidly bolted and 



356 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



fastened together, and anchored with strong hemp cables 
to heavy iron anchors dropped in the bottom of the river. 
The roadway is laid over this, as over the trestles. At the 
Turkish end we come to what was formerly the village of 
Getchet, which is a village no more. It was a place of 
probably 25 or 50 houses, not one of which is left stand- 
ing. It was first demolished by the Russian batteries to 
drive away the Turkish outpost that was stationed there, 
and when Captain Klemenka began his bridge he found 
it necessary to continue the roadway to the other end, 
which was for the most part under water, in the best way 
he could. He simply used the debris and rubbish of these 
houses and walls to make a road, which is built right over 
the foundation of the houses. In no other way could he 
get a sufficiently solid foundation on which to build. The 
road, therefore, goes zigzagging about from house to house, 
with a piece of bridge here and a piece of trestle-work 
there, j3ieced into the chaussee in the most curious manner ; 
but this new roadway has not been continued up over the 
old road for more than a mile, and there remain some five 
or six miles to be made yet before troo23S can pass over it. 
Altogether it is a most creditable piece of work so far, and 
does Captain Klemenka great honor." 

Of course, the erection of this substantial bridge set 
rumors afloat that the Russians intended to cross their 
army thereon. And during the night of the 21st, the con- 
tinuous marching of troops through Braila, as though on 
their way to the bridge, aroused the liveliest excitement in 
the community, and early in the morning of the 22d the 
shore was thronged with people eager to see the grand 
movement, but their surprise must have been great when 
they found no troops, but instead heard the roar of artil- 
lery and rattle of musketry on the opposite shore of the 
Danube. Mr. MacGahan says : " The manner of crossing 



THE FIGHTING BEGUN IN THE DOBRUDSCHA. 367 

was equally unexpected and unforeseen by the Turks and 
the spectators" (the Roumanians and even the war cor- 
respondents). The commander of the forces at Braila, 
Reni and Galatz was General Zimmerman. He had sud- 
denly left Braila during the night of the 21st, and had gone 
to Galatz, whence he had crossed the Danube with two 
regiments of infantry, and some cavalry and artillery. 
The Turks were at last aroused, and a detachment, with a 
number of mountain-guns on horseback, was hurried to the 
spot where the Russians must land, to give them a warm 
reception. " It had been hoped that the boats would be able 
to make two or three trips before the Turks received warn- 
ing, but they had evidently received correct information 
of the projected movement/' and they were already at the 
spot when the first boat-loads were landed. We quote 
from a letter of Mr. MacGahan, dated Braila, June 24th : 
"A glance at the map will show the Danube running in 
two separate channels from Hirsova to Braila. The old 
channel, the one on the right, makes a sharp turn just op- 
posite Braila, at Matchin, and runs at right angles with its 
former course, until it rejoins what is now the main stream, 
three or four hundred yards below Braila. It was just 
below the point where the two streams unite that the bridge 
had been constructed; the road from Matchin running 
along the lower banks of the old channel reaches the river 
at this point, and in fact the bridge has been built on the 
spot where the crossing is usually effected by means of a 
. ferry. The whole valley of the Danube here, as well as 
this road, is still for the most part under water. Behind 
Matchin, supposing the observer to be standing at Braila, 
will be seen the range of low mountains or hills extending 
from Matchin in the direction of Galatz, opposite which 
place they diminish to a low, narrow point, or promontory, 
which, rising out of the water, appears to be probably con- 



358 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



siderably higher than it really is. It was just opposite 
this j)oint that the Russians landed, and the Turks were 
posted here on this narrow range of hills, in front of the 
very spot which the Russians had chosen, and as soon as 
they came within range the Turks opened upon them a 
well-directed fire. They had only two pieces of artillery, 
however, and the Russians were sufficiently well protected 
by thick plank bulwarks that had been constructed on the 
sides of the boats, and it was not until they began to disem- 
bark and wade through the water knee-deep, that the fire 
of the Turks commenced to tell. Then the fight became 
a close and desperate one. The first 1,800 Russians who 
arrived were obliged to maintiain themselves against a very 
superior number of Turks until the return of the boats 
with a second lot, which they did by taking shelter 
wherever they could find it, by advancing part of the way 
up the heights, and taking cover behind rocks, and other- 
wise availing themselves of every advantage which the 
ground offered. It is difficult to account for the fact that 
this inferior force of Russians was not overpowered and 
driven back into the water by the superior numbers of the 
Turks, but the fact is that they managed to hold their 
ground until they were reinforced by the return of the 
boats. When it is remembered that the distance to be tra- 
versed was something like three miles, that the only means 
of locomotion was rowing across the deep water, and using 
poles to push the boats along where the water is shallow, 
as it is for a great part of the distance, the courage and 
tenacity of the Russians will be thoroughly appreciated. 

" It seems that the hardest part of the fighting, and the 
greatest loss of the Russians, occurred at this time, and 
their position must have been a most critical and trying 
one, as they had absolutely no means of retreat ; they had 
either to fight or to surrender. The Turks seem to have 



A WARM RECEPTION. 



359 



charged them with the bayonet, and the fight became a 
close and a hot one, though the small numbers engaged on 
both sides accounts for the small loss suffered by the Rus- 
sians. Several Russians were killed and wounded by 
bayonets, and it is said that even the two or three hundred 
Turkish cavalry charged, or attempted to charge them, 
and some of the wounded had sabre cuts, to show how 
close had been the contact with the daring Turkish horse- 
men. These latter seem to have been Circassians, and the 
Russians say they fought like tigers. They succeeded in 
isolating and surrounding an advanced detachment of some 
fifteen or twenty Russians, and cutting them off to the last 
man, and, in spite of a fire that was poured in upon them, 
and which caused them very severe losses, they got clown 
from their horses in order to mutilate the dead by cutting 
off their noses and ears and hacking the bodies into as 
many pieces as they possibly could. Altogether the Rus- 
sians say that the Turks behaved with the utmost bravery 
and resolution, but the fact that an inferior number of 
Russians was enabled to effect a landing and maintain its 
ground in the face of more than twice the number of Turks 
would not seem to confirm this assertion. At any rate, as 
soon as the boats arrived with a second lot, the tide of 
battle began to turn, and the Turks, from acting upon the 
offensive, were soon obliged to defend themselves. Alto- 
gether two regiments, or about 6,000 Russians, crossed over 
in the morning with four pieces of artillery, and the Turks 
soon began to give way. The Russian artillery, however, 
proved to be useless, owing to the nature of the ground, 
which was so marshy that it was impossible to bring the 
cannon into action until it was no longer needed. As soon 
as the two regiments had landed they began to push the 
Turks hard, and, climbing up the heights on both sides, 
soon succeeded in carrying them. The Turks only retreated 



360 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



to the next hill, and again made a stand, and they were 
again pursued by the Russians, until, after driving them 
from hill to hill, they gained the heights above Zizila, 
where the combat ceased, the Russians having lost 200 
men in killed and wounded. 

"The Turks seem to have had only 3,000 men here, 
with half a battery of artillery, and about 300 cavalry. 
The Russians advanced no further than Zizila on Friday, 
but it soon became evident that, as soon as they wished to 
advance to Matchin, they would meet with little or no 
resistance. About three o'clock, I perceived the Turkish 
cavalry and artillery retreating from the last position, op- 
posite the heights of Zizila, down the hillside towards 
Matchin, at full gallop, and I judged by the rate they were 
going that they would not stop even at Matchin. In the 
night, people coming over from that town informed the 
Russians that the Turks had abandoned the place, and 
during the night the Cossacks entered and took possession. 
Matchin was in the hands of the Russians, and the pas- 
sage of the two army corps stationed about here was thus 
secured." 

" This crossing is of far more importance than it was at 
first supposed it would be. As the Turks have retreated 
to the Kustendjie Railway, the Russians are now in virtual 
possession of the whole of the Dobrudscha. It is impos- 
sible to understand Turkish strategy in thus leaving the 
Dobrudscha almost entirely unprotected. They do not 
seem to have had altogether more than 8,000 or 10,000 
men here, and they must either have been convincd that 
the Russians would not attempt a passage at this place, 
or they must have decided to completely abandon the Do- 
brudscha, and allow the Russians to cross with compara- 
tively little opposition, in the hope of being able to crush 
them later when a Russian force, advancing from this side, 



THE RUSSIANS MASTERS OF THE DOBRUDSCHA. 361 

should have reached the dangerous quadrilateral of Silistria, 
Rustchuk, Varna and Shumla. A few more troops here 
would have made the passage of the Russians a most diffi- 
cult matter, and although the great hulk of the Russian 
army is certainly between Giurgevo and Turna Mngurelli, 
they still have two army corps about Galatz, Reni and 
Braila, a force of about 70,000 men — an army quite large 
enough to make the Turkish positions about Rustchuk most 
critical, as soon as it should be able to get so far. It is, of 
course, impossible to say what the Turkish plan may be, but 
it certainly looks as though they had no plan at all, and 
that, as usual with the Turks, everything is left to the care 
of Allah." 

Mr. MacGahan obtained permission on the 24th, from 
General Zimmerman, to accompany him to Matchin, 
whither he was going with 2,000 more men, and he writes : 

"As soon as the inhabitants saw the boats coming they 
formed into a procession and came down to the shore to 
meet us, with banners, holy pictures taken from the 
churches, and various other religious emblems. They 
were led by three priests and some other church dignita- 
ries in full canonical robes, who met us, chanting a hymn. 
General Zimmerman took off his cap and kissed the little 
wooden cross that was presented to him, while with a 
bunch of green leaves they splashed any amount of holy 
water over his head, and, in fact, almost drenched him. 
Each of those who followed was treated with the same 
copious shower-bath, and as the day was hot and we were 
all in a terrible perspiration, the ordeal, to which I sub- 
mitted with as much grace as possible, was by no means an 
unpleasant one. The people then greeted us with loud 
hurrahs, and marched after us, manifesting the most ex- 
travagant joy, especially the boys, whose delight was as 
unbounded as it was troublesome. Nevertheless, in spite 



362 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



of something that was grotesque about it, all this reception 
of the conquerors by the conquered, of the invaders by 
the invaded, has a profound political significance which 
the Turkophiles, if there be any such people left, would do 
well to ponder. These people, instead of looking upon 
the Russians as enemies, and conquerors, and invaders, and 
oppressors, hail them with delight and satisfaction as their 
deliverers from a degrading and terrible bondage, which 
Europe has condoned and sustained too long. These same 
people would have hailed Englishmen with the same 
delight as the Russians, had English help but come in 
time. 

''To-day the inhabitants of Matchin are all Christians; 
the Turkish population, who were in a small minority, fled 
soon after the declaration of war, carrying away all their 
worldly goods. A great part of the inhabitants, too, are 
Russians, of the sect known as the Old Believers, who 
emigrated from their own country and settled here on the 
banks of the Danube more than a hundred years ago. 
They still speak Russian, and wear the costume of the 
Russian peasant. The rest of the inhabitants are Bul- 
garians and Wallachians. We took a walk through the 
town. It had a strange, lonely, deserted, dilapidated look, 
partly owing to the fact that the houses formerly occupied 
by the Turkish population were quite untenanted, that the 
shops had not yet been opened after the previous day's 
scare, and partly because a Turkish town always has this 
dreary, tumble-down, unkempt appearance. We looked 
into the windows of many of the Turkish houses, and saw 
the empty, abandoned rooms which had so lately been in- 
habited, and which looked all the sadder and more mel- 
ancholy because of the thought that came unconsciously 
into one's mind, that their owners would never come back 
again. We looked into the mosque. The doors were wide 



ACTIVITY OF THE TURKS ALONG THE DANUBE. 3G3 

open as usual, and the floors strewn with dirty matting, 
dust and litter, showing that it had not been used for many 
weeks; but there had been no desecration on the part of 
the Russian soldiers, no defilement of the house of worship, 
no insult flung at Allah. I remarked this particularly; 
I, who had seen so many Christian churches defiled and 
desecrated in Bulgaria. The verses of the Koran were, 
still written on bits of board or paper, and hung round the 
walls, as though they were expecting the Mussulman wor- 
shipers of Allah back again ; but high up in the minaret 
beside it, whence the mullah was wont to call all good Mo- 
hammedans to prayer, stands a Russian sentinel — em- 
blematic, perhaps, of the long struggle between Moham- 
medanism and Christianity, and ominous of the end." 

But we need scarcely to remind the reader that the. 
crossing from Galatz had but little influence upon the war. 
and its results, not even, as it was doubtless designed to do, 
throwing the Turks off their guard at Rustchuk, Sistova 
and Nicopolis, at one of which the Russian chiefs purposed 
to cross with the mass of their army, and that but a few 
days later this first crossing was shorn of much of its glory 
by the brilliant and far more important one from Simnitza 
to Sistova. 

"While the Russians had been completing and perfecting 
their plans of the actual campaign, and preparing for the 
advance into Bulgaria, the Turks had been far from in- 
active, though apparently so, they had been steadily 
strengthening their defensive works at all salient points, 
along the frontier, especially at Rustchuk, Sistova and 
Nicopolis, at one of which, as we have said, they expected 
the first serious assault of the enemy. There were almost 
daily interchanges of shots at one and another of the ob- 
jective points, and the foes appeared equally on the alert. 
Almost simultaneously with the advance from Galatz and 



364 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Braila, a heavy demonstration was made from Parapan, a 
small Roumanian village on the shore, about eight or ten 
miles west of Giurgevo. The real object of the movement 
was to "set up a sunken hedge of torpedoes in the Danube," 
as a protection, against the monitors lying at Rustchuk, in 
the proposed laying of pontoons above, and it was entirely 
successful. Two gun-boats steamed up from Rustchuk to 
interfere with General Skobeleff and his torpedo-layers, but 
Lieutenant Stridlin, in a tiny steam-launch, gallantly 
came to the rescue and the gun-boats hastened back to 
their safer quarters, at Rustchuk. But after the purpose 
had been accomplished and when the general and his party 
had already started on their return to Parapan, two field- 
batteries arrived on a trot from Rustchuk and opened fire 
on them. To guard against the possible capture of the 
steam-launch by gun-boats, which were uncomfortably near, 
it was determined to run the little vessel through the bul- 
rushes to the bank and carry it into safety in an ox-cart. 
This had to be effected under the fire of the batteries 
referred to, and one officer was killed and seven men 
wounded. 

The Turks were much mystified by this torpedo-laying 
expedition, supposing it to be a serious essay to cross. A 
correspondent of the Daily News, writing from Rustchuk, 
June 23d, says : 

" The Russians have made an attempt this week to cross 
the Danube in the direction of Kiritach, above Pirgos, be- 
tween the Ottoman picquets Nos. 6 and 8, at a distance of 
about two hours and a half from Rustchuk. Protected by 
the "Wallachian forts at Parapan, the Russians advanced 
at seven o'clock on Wednesday morning upon the Roumanian 
island, indicated on the map by the name of Gura-Kame. 
Their object was to fortify themselves on this island, in order 
to protect the invading column. In my opinion this move- 



ON THE MOVE. 



365 



ment was not a mere demonstration or trap to draw on 
their adversary, but a serious attack upon a point which, 
compared with other defenses upon or near the right bank, 
was certainly weak. The enemy aimed at a surprise, reck- 
oning upon the skillful and effective fire of the batteries at 
Parapan, which, however, is very inferior to that of the 
Turks, whose guns, having a longer range, have caused ter- 
rible destruction, while the Russian shot scarcely reach the 
Turkish shore." 

For some time the head-quarters of the Emperor and of 
the Commander-in-Chief had been at Alexandria, a town 
on the Vede, some fifteen miles inland, where also had been 
stationed a large portion of the army, including the corps 
of General Badetsky. But on the 24th this corps was 
moved down nearly to the shore, with corps head-quarters 
at Piatra, where also was the head-quarters of the 8th Di- 
vision, that of General Prince Mirsky, while the 9th, 14th 
(that of General Dragomiroff) and 35th, destined to be 
among the first to cross, were at Lissa. On the 26th, Mr. 
Forbes wrote: "We are just on the move, crossing pro- 
bably to-night, or at all events to-morrow night." 

Before giving the details of the crossing, we copy this 
writer's description of the places then soon to be made mem- 
orable in the history of the war ; writing from Simnitza, 
June 27 th, he says : 

" Returning yesterday evening to the head-quarters of the 
9th Division in Lissa, I received some information which 
led me to ride direct to Simnitza. I was told there would 
be two attempts at crossing the Danube, one at Turna Ma- 
gurelli, the other from Simnitza to Sistova. The latter 
was understood to be more important, and I chose it. 
Reaching Simnitza, I found there the whole of the 14th 
Division, commanded by General DragomirofF. The 14th 
is a division of the 8th Army Corps, commanded by Gen- 



366 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



eral Badetsky. General Dragomiroff was in trie midst of 
the preparations for crossing. 

"Let me first describe the locality. Simnitza is almost 
opposite the long, straggling Turkish town of Sistova, 
which lies in a plateau above and in the hollows of a preci- 
pice overhanging the Danube. Below Sistova, for a dis- 
tance of two miles, the Turkish bank is steep, in places 
quite precipitous, with here and there little hollows, and 
above the river-side are steep wooded sloj)es, covered with 
gardens and vineyards, leading to a bare ridge forming the 
sky-line. Two miles below Sistova, is a narrow, marked 
depression in the Turkish bank, leading up from a little 
cove formed by the affluents of a small stream. Above, 
and to the right of this cove was a small camp of Turkish 
soldiers, fixed there, doubtless, in consciousness of the weak- 
ness of the point ; and above the camp on the sky-line was 
a battery of heavy guns. Between the cove and Sistova 
several cannon were disposed under cover of the trees, and 
immediately on the proper right of the town was a small 
open earthwork, armed with a few field-guns. Sistova is 
an open town. Probably in and about it there was not 
more than a brigade of Turkish trooj^s, but then it is not 
distant more than a long day's march from either Bust- 
chuk or Nicopolis. So much for the Turkish side. About 
Simnitza the Boumanian bank is high ; but between it and 
the Danube proper, which flows close to the Turkish bank, 
is a broad tract, partly of green meadow, partly of sand, 
partly of tenacious mud, the whole just emerging from in- 
undation. This flat is cut off from Simnitza by a narrow 
arm of the Danube, so that it is really an island. A raised 
road and bridge leading from the town across the flats, to 
the landing-place on the Danube, have been wrecked by 
the floods. It was necessary, therefore, for the Bussians to 
gain access to the flats by a short pontoon bridge. These 



THE MAIN CEOSSING BEGUN. 



367 



flats are still in many places under water, are scored by in- 
tersecting streams, and studded with impracticable swamps, 
so tliat the road through them is now difficult and tortu- 
ous. They are quite bare, except that at the lower end, 
exactly opposite the cove on the Turkish side, of which I 
have spoken, there is a wood of willows and alders of con- 
siderable extent, and capable of affording a good deal of 
cover. The Danube all along the Sistova position is about 
sixteen hundred paces wide, and flows very rapidly. There 
is a low island opposite Sistova, but it has no interest in the 
present narrative. The ground on the Roumanian side 
shows a sloping face to the higher Turkish bank, so that it 
is impossible to bring troops into Simnitza unobserved. 
Hence, probably, the Turkish preparedness, such as it 
was. The attempt was, as far as possible, to be of the 
nature of a surprise, and it was necessary, therefore, to 
postpone the dispositions until after nightfall. The Di- 
vision Dragomiroff had the post of honor, and was ex- 
pected to make a footing on the Turkish side by early 
morning. The Division Mirsky, in support, was to make a 
night-march from Lissa, and be in position at Simnitza at 
seven A.M., to follow its sister division across in the event 
of the latter's success. In the event of failure, it was to 
take up the fighting, and force a passage at all sacrifices ; 
for the Archduke Nicholas had announced that he would 
take no denial. The river had to be crossed at Simnitza, 
cost what it might. Other divisions stood within call if 
need were. The waters might be reddened, but they must 
be crossed." 

Peculiarly graphic is Mr. Forbes's account of the cross- 
ing, of which he was an eye-witness, and doubtless his own 
narrative will prove more interesting than any we could 
compose from it — we therefore quote : 

"With the darkness, General Dragomiroff had begun his 



368 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



dispositions. The first work was to plant, in made em- 
placements, a roAV of field-guns all along the edge of the 
flats, to sweep with fire the opposite banks. This was 
while his infantry was being marched over the flats down 
into the cover of the willow wood. The darkness and the 
obstructions were both so great that all was not ready till 
the first glimmer of gray dawn. There was no bridge, but 
a number of pontoon-boats, capable of holding from fifteen 
to forty men each. These were dragged on carriages 
through the mud, and launched in the darkness from under 
the spreading boughs of the willow trees. The troops em- 
barked, and pushed across as the craft arrived. Dragomi- 
roff stood on the slimy margin to bid his gallant fellows 
6 God speed.' He would fain have shown the way, for he 
is a fighting as well as a scientific soldier, but it was his 
duty to remain till later. The grateful task devolved on 
Major-General Yolchine, whose brigade consisted of the 
regiments of Valnisk and Minsk, the 53d and 54th of the 
line. The boats put off singly, rowing across for the little 
cove, and later the little steam-tug Annette was brought 
into requisition. For once, the Turks had not spent the 
night watches in heavy sleep. Their few cannon at once 
opened fire on the boats, on the hidden masses among the 
willows, and on the columns marching across the flat. Nor 
was this all. From the slopes above the cove there came 
at the boats a smart infantry fire. The Turkish riflemen 
were holding the landing-place. Yolchine has not gained 
experience and credit in Caucasian warfare for nothing. 
His boat was leading. The Turkish riflemen were in 
position about fifty yards from the shore. He landed his 
handful, and bade them lie down in the mud. Several were 
down previously with Turkish bullets. He opened a skir- 
mishing fire to cover the landing of the boats that fol- 
lowed. One by one these landed their freights, who fol- 



FIGHTING AT SISTOVA A GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION. 369 

lowed the example of the first boatload. At length enough 
had accumulated. Young Skobeleff was there, a host in 
himself. Yolchine bade his men fix bayonets, stand up 
and follow their officers. There was a rush and a cheer 
that rang louder in the gray dawn than the Turkish volley 
that answered it. That volley was not fired in vain ; but 
the Turks scarcely waited for cold steel. Yolchine's skir- 
mishers followed them doggedly some distance up the slope, 
but for the time could not press on far from the base. 
Busily, yet slowly, the craft moved to and fro from shore 
to shore. The Russian guns had at once opened when the 
Turkish fire showed that there was no surprise ; but how- 
ever heavy a fire may be, it will not all at once crush 
another fire. The Turkish shells kept falling in the water, 
whistling through the willows and bursting among the 
columns on the flat. One shell from a mountain-gun fell 
into a boat containing two guns, their gunners and the 
commandant of the battery. The boat was swamped at 
once, and all on board perished. This was the only serious 
casualty; but numerous Russian soldiers were falling on 
both sides of the river. Nevertheless, the work was going 
steadily on, and when, soon after seven, I returned to meet 
Prince Mirsky on the high ground before Simnitza, the 
report was, that already the whole brigade of Yolchine had 
reached the other side, that a Russian battery was there 
and that Dragomiroff himself had crossed. "We stood for 
some time surveying the scene. 

"Cast your eye down there to your left front, athwart 
the flats, and note the masses of troojDS waiting there, or 
marching on towards the cover of the willows. See the 
long row of guns in action there by the water's edge, 
covered by the battalions of infantry, in this case a mis- 
chievous conventionality, owing to the exposure, for the 
Turkish cannon will not just yet be wholly silenced. Note 
24 



370 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



how deftly the Russian shells pitch into that earthwork on 
the verge of Sistova. But the gallant gunners stubbornly 
fight their guns under the rain of fire, and when one gun 
is quiet, another gives tongue. And what a mark ! Half 
an army corps out there on the flat, with no speck of cover 
save that patch of willows down there. Hark to the 
crackle of musketry fire on the wooded slopes rising out 
from the cove. No wonder Yolchine's skirmishers are 
moving, for that Turkish battery on the sky-line is drop- 
ping shells with fell swiftness among the willow trees. 
Sistova seems stark empty. It might be a city of the dead. 
But the Turkish gunners cling to their posts and their 
guns with wonderful stanchness amidst clouds of dust 
thrown up by the shells which burst around them. Nor 
are the single pieces among the trees wholly quiet. Shells 
are dropping among the troops on the flat, and the ambu- 
lance men are hurrying about with branchards, or plodding 
towards the Verbandplatz, with heavy blood-sodden bur- 
dens. You may watch the shells drop into the water, 
starring its surface as they fall, as if it had been glass. 
What a wonder that one and all should miss those clumsy, 
heavy-laden craft, which stud the water so thickly ! A 
shell in one of those boats would produce fearful results 
among the closely-packed freight. Not less fell havoc 
would it work among those soldiers further on, massed 
there under the shelter of the clay bank. One realizes how 
great would have been the Russian loss if the Turks had 
been in any great force in the Sistova position, and how, 
after all, the Commander-in-Chief might have been forced 
to take a denial, accepting the inevitable. But as the 
affair stands, the whole thing might have been a spectacle 
got up for the gratification of the people of Simnitza, en- 
joying the effect from the platform of high ground over- 
hanging the flats. The laughter and bustle there are in 



FOUR HISTORIC REGIMENTS. 



371 



strange contrast with the apparent absence of human life 
in Sistova opposite. But then Sistova was a victim lashed 
to the stake. The spectators on Simnitza bluff knew their 
skins were safe. 

"Prince Mirsky has received his reports and final in- 
structions. He gives word to his division to move down 
on to the flats, to be in readiness to cross. Previously, 
their march finished, they had been resting on the grassy 
uplands behind Simnitza. As we leave the plateau the cry 
rises that a Turkish monitor is coming down the Danube. 
Sure enough near the head of the island is visible what 
seems to be a large vessel with two funnels moving slowly 
down the stream. Now the ferry-boats may look out. Now 
is the opportunity for some dashing torpedo practice. But 
the Russian officers evince no alarm — rather, indeed, satis- 
faction. The fact is, as we presently discern with the glass, 
that the seeming monitor is really two large lighters lashed 
together, which the Russians are drifting down to assist in 
transporting the troops. No person is visible on board, yet 
some one must be steering, and the course held is a bold 
one. Slowly the lighters forge ahead past the very mouths 
of the Turkish cannon in the Sistova Battery and are 
barely noticed by a couple of shells. They bring to at the 
Roumanian shore, higher up than the crossing-place, and 
wait there for their freight. Prince Mirsky takes his stand 
at the pontoon-bridge to watch his division file past, and 
greet the regiments as they pass him. But in front of the 
9th Division comes a regiment of the brigade of riflemen 
formed specially for this war, and attached to no army 
corps. This brigade is armed with Berdan rifles, and com- 
prises the finest marksmen of the whole army. Prince 
Mirsky's division is made up of four historic regiments 
which suffered most heavily in Sebastopol during the great 
siege. They are the regiments of Yeletsk, of Sefsk, of 



372 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Orloff and of Brianski, the 33d, 34th, 35th and 36th of 
the Russian line. Very gallantly they march down the 
steep slope and across the bridge on to the swampy flats. 
Soon there greets them a scarcely enlivening spectacle, the 
Verbandplatz of the second line, where the more serious 
cases were being dealt with before forwarding them to the 
house hospitals in Simnitza. As we passed, about twenty 
shattered creatures were lying there on blood-stained 
stretchers waiting their turn at the hands of the doctors. 
More than one, I noticed, required no further treatment than 
to be consigned to a soldier's grave. Beyond the first 
swamp, we met a fine young officer of the Guards, carried 
on a stretcher with a shattered leg. But the plucky 
youngster raised himself jauntily on his elbow to salute 
the General, and wrote a telegram in my note-book to ac- 
quaint his friends that he was not much hurt. A little 
further on, as we were passing the rear of the guns, the 
Grand Duke Nicholas, the younger son of the Commander- 
in-Chief, rode out from the battery to greet our general. 
The members of the Imperial Family of Bussia do not 
spare themselves when other subjects of the Czar are ex- 
posing themselves on the battle-field. In Bussia it is not 
the fashion that lofty station gives exemption from the 
more dangerous tasks of patriotism. The young Grand 
Duke had been across the Danube, and was in high spirits 
at the success of the enterprise. Some distance further on 
we passed the second Verbandplatz whither many wounded 
had been brought. It was within range of the Turkish 
batteries about Sistova, and the mud around was pitted 
with shell holes. But the Turkish fire by this time was 
nearly crushed by the steady cannonade of the Russians. 

"Going still forward towards the willows we all but 
stuck, horses and all, in the deep holding mud. It was ad- 
mirable to see the energy with which the heavily-laden 



THE BATTERY ON THE SKY-LINE. 375 

soldiers of the infantry-column battled on doggedly through 
obstruction. I should have said earlier that the troops 
were in complete marching order, aud that for this day they 
had discarded their cool white clothing, and were crossing 
in heavy blue clothing. Two reasons were assigned for 
this. One, the greater warmth to the wounded in case of 
lying exposed to the night chills. The other, that white 
clothing was too conspicuous. The latter reason is rubbish. 
Blue on the light ground of the Danube sand is more 
conspicuous than white. Everywhere British scarlet is 
more conspicuous than any other. The true fighting 
color is the dingy kharki of our Indian irregulars. After 
the mud, we met a batch of prisoners under escort. Most 
were Turkish irregulars, defiant-looking, ruffianly, splendid 
fellows, a few were nizams of the Turkish regulars, gaunt- 
faced, but resolute-looking, and there was a squad of mis- 
cellaneous civilians, Turks and Bulgarians. Just outside 
the willows was a place where the dead who had fallen 
there had been collected. The bodies were already swell- 
ing and blackening under the fierce heat. The living 
soldiers stood around the corpses, looking at their dead 
comrades with concern, but with no fear or horror. The 
grass under the willows was littered with rags of the linen 
and bits of clothing, showing that the shells had not fallen 
thereabout for nothing among the masses of men gathered 
there in the early morning. One or two shells were still 
dropping as we reached the water's edge. All the Turkish 
opposition had seemed crushed, but it was not so. There 
was a regular little battle raging on the slopes above the 
cove where the landing had been made. The Turks, it 
appears, had rallied and concentrated on the upper slopes 
in front of their battery on the sky-line, and, gathering 
heart, had come clown on the pickets of the brigade 
Yolchine, whose line had perhaps been scarcely sufficiently 



376 



THE CONQUEST OF TTTKKEY. 



fed by reinforcements, as they landed at first. The Turks 
had made some headway and may have encouraged them- 
selves with the hope of driving their northern foe into the 
Danube; but only for a moment. Men fell fast in Yol- 
chine's skirmishing line, but it pressed upwards irresistibly. 
We saw the Turks falling back in trickling little streams, 
and the battery ceased to fire, and no doubt was removed 
for fear of capture. For soon after noon the Russian in- 
fantry had crowned the heights and settled themselves 
there, looking down into the interior of Bulgaria, with the 
Danube conquered in their rear. The Turkish infantry 
detachment tried to work round and down upon Sistova, 
but was thwarted by an intercepting skirmishing force, 
which got into possession a cheval of the road from Sistova, 
and thus, it would appear, cut off the Turkish guns, which 
had been in the earthwork near the town. No attempt 
was made to occupy Sistova. That work is reserved for to- 
night. 

"And what of the Turkish monitor? She had been 
hemmed in by a cordon of torpedoes within the side chan- 
nel to the south of the island of Vardim. Although she 
was puffing and blowing furiously in her circumscribed 
area, a Russian battery moving clown the river bank on 
the Roumanian side shelled her into a melancholy victim 
of the acknowledged supremacy of the newest war machine. 
So the resistance terminated, and what followed is mere 
routine work. Iron pontoons began casually to make their 
appearance both from up stream and down stream, and ac- 
cumulated about the crossing-place, being used for the 
time as ferry-boats. A complete jDontoon train is in re- 
serve at Simnitza, and will be on the water's edge to- 
night and be laid to-morrow. Probably there will be 
two bridges, for this is the crossing-place of the main 
column, and will be the great Russian thoroughfare to and 



BURNING OF THE GRAND MOSQUE. 



KICOPOLIS m ASHES. 



379 



from Turkey. Simultaneously with the pontoon-boats ap- 
peared on the scene the Emperor's brother, the Grand 
Duke Nicholas, with General Nepokoitchitsky, and spoiled 
my prospects of dinner by requisitioning the whole hotel. 
The Emperor did not turn up. 

" The crossing has been effected by a coup de main with 
marvelous skill and finesse. Until the last moment no 
hint was given. The foreign attaches were nearly all 
abroad. The Emperor and suite were ostentatiously at 
Turna Magurelli, and yet further to promote the delusion, 
the Nicopolis position was assiduously bombarded the day 
before. The successful effort has probably cost only 1,000 
men killed and wounded. By to-night, or at furthest to- 
morrow morning, the whole of the 8th Corps will be across, 
and the brigade of riflemen as well. To-morrow follows 
the 35th Division, and later come the whole of the 12th 
Army Corps, the whole of the Cavalry Division of Sko- 
beleff, the whole Cavalry Divisions of the 8th and 12th 
Corps, and probably the 13th Corps, to stand in re- 
serve near the Danube, while the column pushes on over 
Tirnova. One hundred thousand men, at the lowest com- 
putation, will march in this column, practically an irresist- 
ible force. Nicopolis yesterday was laid in ashes. It is 
reported that an attempt was made at Turna simultaneously 
with that at Sistova, but I believe that the real attempt 
there was to be made last night by the 31st Division of 
the 9th Corps. The Grand Duke Nicholas and General 
Nepokoitchitsky have received the Grand Cordon and 
Cross of St. George from the Emperor." 

We cannot do better than permit this writer to finish his 
story; under date of 29th, he writes: 

"I take up my narrative of the crossing operations 
at the time when my telegram of the 27th was dis- 
patched. During the whole afternoon, evening arid 



§80 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



night, the troops kept crossing as quickly as circum- 
stances would permit. The number of boats was aug- 
mented in the course of the day to about three hundred. 
General Dragomiroff followed up the retiring Turkish in- 
fantry, who fell back in the direction of Rustchuk. Their 
rear maintained a desultory skirmish till the summit of the 
heights was reached, and then they ran for it, pursued for 
a short distance by the Russians, both infantry and Cos- 
sacks, the latter being in but scanty numbers. Just as 
night fell General Dragomiroff brought up a battery of 
horse artillery in pursuit, which kept up a brisk fire for 
some little time. Since then perfect quietude has reigned. 
The great camp of the Russian troops is now on the 
plateau behind the sky-line of the heights. Up to the 
present time the following is the strength now across the 
Danube — three infantry divisions, the 8th, 14th and 35th ; 
the artillery of two divisions; one brigade of riflemen; two 
regiments of Cossacks and miscellaneous detachments. 

" Sistova was occupied on the afternoon of the 27 th. A 
detachment of Cossacks wound up the glen of Yerkir-Dere, 
at the mouth of which was the landing-place. It then in- 
clined to the right, scouting along the footpaths, among the 
fields and gardens, poking its way cautiously along. The 
strongest detachment crept cautiously westward on Sistova. 
The leading files first peered into the shattered earthworks, 
where two dismounted field-guns were found, and then 
gradually felt their way into the town, peering round the 
corners of the streets, and patrolling onward by twos and 
threes, until, with infinite patient circumspection, they had 
gone through the whole place. Some few houses which 
presented a suspicious aspect were entered. Sistova was 
found to be evacuated; scarcely any Turks were left. ~No 
cruelties had been perpetrated by the troops before with- 
drawing. The conduct of the Cossacks was most exem- 



AN UNWELCOME SPECTATOR. 



381 



plary. No attempt was made at pillaging. Presently 
smoke began to rise from their little encampments in the 
gardens of the town, and they formed another camp on the 
slope over against Sistova. Some infantry followed the 
Cossacks into Sistova, but it remains with few troops quar- 
tered there. An infantry regiment is camped about mid- 
way between the town and the landing-cove to guard the 
Turkish end of the bridge which is being constructed fur- 
ther up the stream than the crossing-point of boats. 

" Yesterday, about noon, the proceedings of the crossing 
were temporarily interrupted by the sudden appearance of 
a monitor steaming slowly up the stream. It appears that 
she had worked her way out through the lower end of the 
channel behind the island of Vardim, and had run the 
risk of torpedoes. Puffs of smoke rose from the Russian 
field-battery opposite the western end of that island, and 
more distant reports betokened the return fire of the 
monitor. She passed the battery, taking its fire in so doing. 
This lasted about an hour and a half. There was a general 
rush back from the water's edge of the pontoon- wagons. 
The infantry waiting to cross fell back for cover into the 
willows. The columns leaving Simnitza reversed their 
march, and there was something like a stampede of the 
baggage-wagons. The bridge had already been begun, 
and it was felt that the monitor might do infinite harm. 
Her smoke drew nearer as she slowly steamed up the stream 
until, at length, she was in the same reach as the crossing- 
place. There she stopped, and there she supinely waited 
for nearly two hours, neither moving nor firing a shot. 
The Russians made no attempt to dislodge her, so far as 
was apparent, but she inexplicably withdrew of her own 
accord, steaming away slowly down the river. All this 
arrested the crossing, the boats huddling up against either 
bank, and the construction of the bridge was also delayed, 



382 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



but it is just being finished as I write. The Emperor, with 
the Czarewitch, arrived yesterday morning at eleven o'clock. 
His Majesty immediately visited the wounded, who number 
about four hundred, some in tents, some in houses. They are 
to be sent back by the Giurgevo and Bucharest Railway. 
At Fratesti two fully fitted-up sanitary trains are waiting, 
one from Dresden, the other from Moscow, under the 
charge of the Countess Orloff and a staff of trained lady 
nurses. The hospitals here are under the direction of 
Prince Tolstoi, working under Prince Tcherkasky, the 
head of the Red Cross organization. Several of the 
wounded died yesterday and to-day. In the afternoon the 
Emperor crossed the Danube, and went round among the 
troops on Turkish soil, where he was received with tre- 
mendous enthusiasm. He visited Sistova, and returned at 
seven. He was urgent for the speedy completion of the 
bridge, and inspected the progress of construction both 
going and returning. In the evening he sent an aide-de- 
camp round the hospitals to distribute thirty crosses of St. 
George to the most valiant of the wounded. The Imperial 
head-quarters are in the chateau of the boyard of Sim- 
nitza." 

While the crossing was in course of being effected at 
Simnitza to Sistova, feints were made at Turn a Magurelli 
to Nicopolis, which would have been converted into a real 
crossing had the attempt at Sistova proved unsuccessful — 
or, rather, the purpose w T as to cross at one or other of the 
two points, according to the ascertained strength of the op- 
position, the Simnitza-Sistova point being preferred, should 
it be at all practicable. In the midst of the feint towards 
Nicopolis, the mosque and some of the houses of that town 
caught fire and the place was almost totally destroyed. 

While the more important operations attending the cross- 
ing were in progress, there occurred one of those episodes 



A FIGHT BETWEEN A MONITOR AND TORPEDO-BOATS. 383 

of war that relieve the weightier matters, in the shape of 
a sharp encounter between a Turkish monitor and four 
Russian torpedo-boats, the scene being near the mouth of 
the Aluta. " This monitor had been giving the Russians a 
good deal of trouble, and showed an amount of activity and 
energy very unusual with the Turks, continually shelling 
the Russian batteries, and destroying the boats. The 
Russians accordingly determined to destroy it. 

" Four torpedo-boats were, prepared and sent against the 
monitor. Hiding behind an island, they laid in wait, and 
when the vessel was steaming past, suddenly darted out 
from their hiding-place, and bore down on her in broad 
daylight. This monitor, it soon became evident, was 
handled and commanded in a very different manner from 
others with which the Russians have had to deal here. 
With wonderful quickness and skill she was prepared for 
action, and, nothing daunted by the fate of others, made a 
successful defense against her four terrible enemies, a de- 
fense of which the Russians speak with the greatest admi- 
ration. Her commander began by likewise thrusting out 
torpedoes on the end of long spars, thus threatening the 
boats with the danger of being blown into the air first, at 
the same time opening a terrible fire on them with small 
arms and mitrailleuse. He besides manoeuvred his boat in 
a most skillful manner, with a dexterity and address which, 
with the torpedoes protecting, made it impossible for the 
Russians boats to approach sufficiently near. He besides 
tried to run them down, and very nearly succeeded in 
doing so. The reason soon became evident. The com- 
mander was a European, and, as the Russians believe, an 
Englishman, who directed the movements from the deck. 
He was plainly visible all the time, and was a tall man, 
with a long blonde beard parted in the middle. He stood 
with his hands in his pockets, giving orders in the calmest 
manner possible. 



384 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



"The torpedo-boats continued their attempts for more 
than an hour, flitting round the monitor and seeking the op- 
portunity to get at her, but without success. The monitor 
was equally active in trying to run them down, avoiding a 
collision by quick and skillful movements, backing and ad- 
vancing, turning and ploughing the water into foam as she 
pursued or avoided her tiny but dangerous adversaries — a 
lion attacked by rats. At one moment one launch, in rapid 
manoeuvres, found itself between the monitor and the shore, 
with no great distance between them. The monitor's head 
was in the other direction, but her commander instantly 
began backing her down on the torpedo-boat, with the in- 
tention of crushing it against the bank. Just at this mo- 
ment the engineer of the launch was wounded. There was 
some confusion and delay in starting the engines, while the 
current carried her head aground in such a position as to 
render escape impossible. One of the crew sprang out into 
the water and pushed from the ground, while another 
started the engines just in time for her to escape, but the 
shave was very close. One Russian officer sprang ashore, 
and seeing the captain of the monitor coolly standing on 
the deck with his hands in his pockets, emptied his revol- 
ver at him, three shots, at a distance of not more than forty 
feet. The captain of the monitor, in answer, took off his 
hat and bowed, not having received even a scratch. Later, 
however, the gallant fellow seems to have been killed or 
wounded, for he suddenly disappeared from the deck. The 
monitor immediately afterwards retired precipitately from 
the scene of action. 

" Since that time she has kept out of the way like the 
others. The fight was conducted with wonderful skill on 
both sides. The Russian boats were commanded by Lieu- 
tenant Niloff, and the attack was a most daring and tena- 
cious one. His loss was only four or five wounded, in spite 



UNACCOUNTABLE INACTION OF THE RUSSIANS. 385 

of the incessant fire of the small arms and mitrailleuse which 
poured into them. This shows how well handled the boats 
were. They were, however, considerably damaged by the 
mitrailleuse fire. No attempt was made by the commander 
to use his guns, he evidently believing it impossible to hit 
such a small and rapidly-moving object as a steam-launch. 
That the boats should have suffered so little loss in one 
hour's fight shows how difficult it is to hit these launches. 
They were, I believe, fitted out in the same manner as those 
which blew up the monitor at Braila, but this attempt, as 
well as the one at Giurgevo, was made in broad daylight, 
neither of which succeeded." 

After the crossing and the fighting immediately attend- 
ant thereon, the Russians betrayed an unaccountable inat- 
tention and inaction, permitting the Turks to slip quietly 
away from their front. Their subsequent movements be- 
long to later chapters. 



25 



CHAPTEE XIL 



ACKOSS THE BALKANS. 

As we have seen, two months elapsed between the de- 
claration of war by Russia and the actual crossing of her 
army into Bulgaria, This excessive tardiness was justified, 
or admitted of justification, on the plea that the Emperor, 
the Commander-in-Chief and their military advisers were 
perfecting their plans so as to insure success, being deter- 
mined to leave nothing to chance. It was but reasonable 
to suppose that a war-like nation of the first class had 
counted the cost and matured her purposes and plans 
before declaring war — but conceding the necessity claimed 
for two months of further preparation, surely the military 
chieftains should have been ready, experienced veterans as 
almost all of them were, after such elaborate preparation, 
to have prosecuted the war with vigor w T hen once they had 
entered the enemy's country. It will be recollected that 
the crossing of the main body of the army was commenced 
on the 27th of June, so that on the evening of that day 
the Commander-in-Chief could telegraph that an entire 
corps, the eighth, was already in Bulgaria ; that the fight- 
ing to establish themselves on the Bulgarian shore had 
been successful, the enemy had been routed and had fled, 
(being permitted, as remarked in the preceding chapter, to 
slip quietly away, without any pretense of pursuit or even 
an attempt to observe their course) ; that the pontoon-trains 
were already at the spot and the bridge commenced the 

386 



RUSSIAN" TARDINESS AND GERMAN PROMPTITUDE. 387 



same day (the 27th) — these facts being recollected, in con- 
nection with the two months' preparation, is it not re- 
markable that the bridge was not completed until the 30th 
(and then so badly was it constructed that before the 5th 
of July it had " given way twice," as stated by Mr. Mac- 
Gahan, who adds : " I believe it is scarcely strong enough 
for the passage of the siege trains without considerable 
strengthening;" and, in a later letter, July 7th, he says: 
"The bridge is continually giving way"); that, ten days 
after the commencement of the crossing, Mr. MacGahan 
could write : " The army is not all over the river yet ? " 
Is it not more remarkable, that the first event worth 
chronicling, the occupation of Tirnova, did not occur until 
July 8th, eleven days after the crossing to and capture of 
Sistova, eight days after the completion of the bridge arid 
the crossing of the first cavalry? (Tirnova is but fifty 
miles from Sistova, and there was no fighting at Tirnova or 
on the march to it ! ) Then, when the ninth corps was 
sent towards Nicopolis, and the twelfth and thirteenth to- 
wards Rustchuk, though the former could have been 
reached and captured within twenty-four hours and the 
latter could have been reached and its investment be<mn 
within forty-eight hours, neither the one nor the other had 
been reached when Tirnova was occupied, July 9th, nor 
yet when the Grand Duke arrived there with the greater 
part of the eighth corps, July 12th. Compare with this, 
the rapidity and j)romptitude of the movements of the 
Germans in their late war — for instance, the victory of 
Gravelotte, on the 18th, Metz invested on the 19th of 
August ! had the Germans, with all their superiority of 
power, conducted their campaign in the Russian fashion, 
how very different would have resulted the Franco-German 
war. 

Then, again : witness the generalship that was displayed 



388 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



in the actual manipulation of the troops : Nicopolis with a 
considerable garrison, Rustchuk with a protecting army of 
not less than 50,000 men, on either flank, to say nothing 
of Widdin, not only unconquered, but not even watched to 
prevent a surprise, while the Commander-in-Chief goes 
with comparatively a handful of men to Tirnova ! True, 
the Balkans were the objective and Tirnova was on the 
road thither — but with the bulk of the Turkish army in 
his rear, no first-class general would move on the Balkans, 
especially when his base of supplies was still beyond the 
enemy ! True, again, there were three corps sent to ope- 
rate against that enemy — but these were divided, one corps 
going westward and two eastward, actually inviting the 
enemy to concentrate his forces and severely punish, if not 
destroy, either detachment! The Russians actually ex- 
tended their line over about forty miles, with numerous 
weak intervals, and at least two gaps wide enough to per- 
mit an alert enemy to slip through a very considerable 
force. That the Turkish commanders failed to take advan- 
tage of the bad generalship of their enemy only proves 
their own still more conspicuous incompetency. Nor is it 
an admissible plea that the Russian leaders knew the char- 
acter and qualities of their foe, and shaped their course 
accordingly — for it was evidently the interest of Russia to 
make the war as short, sharp and decisive as possible, and 
there can be no question that a vigorous campaign on their 
part would have achieved in much less time, at least, all 
that the slow, sleepy course pursued attained, to say 
nothing of the gain by the exercise of true military skill. 

In short, without laying claim to more than ordinary in- 
telligence and judgment, or to military knowledge, we feel 
no hesitation in giving it as our opinion that Russia owes 
the success of her arms less to the good generalship of her 
commanders, than to the worse generalship of those opposed 



THE CORPS AND THEIR COMMANDERS. 



389 



to them, and this notwithstanding that the Russian officers 
and men alike evinced an amount and degree of courage 
and absolute heroism that has never been surpassed ! It 
must be admitted that, after the third repulse at Plevna, 
when Todleben became virtual commander, seconded by 
Imeritinski, there was a marked change, the Russian 
movements from that time being characterized by energy 
and skill which left nothing to be desired. But had they 
been opposed by an energetic, skillful foe, this change 
would have been too late. 

But, to resume our narrative : in our last chapter we left 
the Russian advance, consisting of a portion of the 8th 
Corps, under the command of General Dragomiroff, firmly 
established on the Bulgarian soil at Sistova, with the enemy 
on the retreat, no Russian knowing whither. The Russians 
had likewise immediately commenced the construction of a 
pontoon-bridge to bring over their artillery and cavalry, 
their supply and siege trains. This bridge was completed 
sufficiently to admit of the crossing thereupon of cavalry 
and light artillery on the 30th, and the next day the heavier 
guns and equipage began to cross. Several days, indeed 
more than a week, was consumed in transporting the army 
and the paraphernalia of war across. Meanwhile, the 
Grand Duke Nicholas proceeded with the re-organization 
of the army, not disturbing the corps or division commands, 
or their general organization, but chiefly making combina- 
tions and assignations of corps for the campaign now sup- 
posed to be actually inaugurated. The 14th Corps, under 
General Zimmerman, continued in the Dobrudscha, the 
7th about Odessa, and the 10th in the Crimea. The army 
of the Danube comprised the 4th, General ZotofF, the 8th, 
General Radetsky, the 9th, General Kriidener, the 11th, 
Prince Schahofskoy, the 12th, General Vannoffsky, and the 
13th, General Hahn. Of these, the 4th was placed in 



390 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



reserve ; to the 9th was assigned the capture of Nicopolis ; 
to the 12th and 13th, with the Czarewitch in command, 
the reduction of Rustchuk, while the 8th and 11th, under 
the- personal command of the Grand Duke were constituted 
the centre, though the 11th was still at Giurgevo. Vn ad- 
vanced division was organized, consisting of a brigade of 
riflemen, four brigades of cavalry, and the skeleton of a 
Bulgarian legion, to be filled up on the march ; this division 
was placed in command of General Gourko, with Duke 
Nicholas of Leuchtenberg as chief of staff, the latter hav- 
ing also the specific command of the 4th cavalry brigade, 
comprising a regiment of Don Cossacks and one of hussars, 
the other cavalry brigades being constituted and commanded, 
the first, of dragoons, by Prince Eugene of Leuchtenberg, 
the second, of two regiments of Don Cossacks, by General 
Cherkasof (himself a Cossack), the third, of Circassian 
Cossacks, by Colonel Tutolmin ; this is the famous division 
that made the daring raid across the Balkans, of which we 
shall sj>eak later. 

The Russian Commander-in-Chief certainly showed 
good judgment and impartiality in affording the several 
corps and divisions, and consequently their commanders 
and subordinate officers, opportunities for achieving dis- 
tinction ; thus, the 8th Corps, and especially General Dra- 
gomiroff's division, had the post of honor in the crossing, 
and now the greater part of it was left at Sistova, where 
General Dragomiroff had his head-quarters, while the 9th, 
11th, 12th and 13th Corps were assigned duties with op- 
portunities for distinguishing themselves. To make our 
narrative intelligible, we shall notice the movements of each 
grand division, so far as practicable, connectedly, and, as 
the JSTicopolis and Rustchuk divisions were exceedingly slow 
in their movements, we consider the centre column first. 

Mr. Forbes dates his first letter after he began to advance 



CRITICISM OF RUSSIAN GENERALSHIP. 391 



with the army from Biela, July 5th. He complains of the 
Turkish roads : " The Turkish recipe for a high road is 
apparently to level a section of ground, strew it with big 
stones, dig sundry trenches to serve as ruts, and powder the 
whole profusely with dust." His account of the encamp- 
ment of "the 35th Division," at Sarejar-Pavlo, affords an 
illustration of the laxity that characterized the Russian 
army throughout the campaign in Bulgaria. 

" At Sarejar there is, or was last night, encamped the 35th 
Division, and I am bound to say that it kept by no means 
a good watch. Outside every village occupied by troops 
during the Franco-German war, no matter how far from 
the front, there was always a double post at every exit, who 
demanded to know the business of every wayfarer not of 
their own nationality. There was a countersign which was 
rigorously exacted after sundown, and I have often known 
instances of German officers being prohibited from passing 
who were not in possession of it. I remember being my- 
self prohibited from appearing at a dinner to which I had 
been bidden by the chief of an army, since the sentry 
would not allow me to enter the park gates of the chateau 
which he occupied because I was not in possession of the 
watchword. But anybody and everybody passed without 
challenge or interference along the road which traversed 
the centre of General Baranoff 's camp. It is true that 
some distance on this road beyond the camp there were a 
couple of outlying pickets, each with a sentry, but there 
was no chain of posts around the camp, or even on the side 
of it next to the unexplored region, which was very near, 
as the sequel will show, and which might have been swarm- 
ing with Turkish soldiers. Troops of any energy would 
certainly have found it no difficult task to surprise this 
camp; and even a few men could easily have caused an alarm 
which would have produced great confusion. The more I 



392 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



see of it, the more do I recognize that the Russian army, 
with its capital soldiers, its excellent equipment and its 
thorough soldiery spirit, has much to learn even of the 
rudiments of the art military. It will readily be under- 
stood that I sjoeak in no unkindly spirit, but I cannot con- 
ceal from myself, and therefore it is my duty not to conceal 
from your readers, that a surprising slackness seems to per- 
vade the army in regard to the everyday duties of modem 
warfare. This was no paltry case of a captain and a couple 
of companies, where attention to the supreme duty of watch- 
ful alertness might be lax without demanding more than 
a passing comment. It was the camp of a whole division 
— a mass of men as large as we have been able to put into 
the field for the summer manoeuvres at Aldershot, and a 
spy might have lounged through it without challenge ; the 
Circassians might have been in its lines before the alarm 
had been given." 

Mr. Forbes had no idea of remaining with the slow- 
moving main column, but desired to join General Gourko's 
advance division of cavalry, the whereabouts of which he 
could not ascertain, except that they were " forward," and 
so he pressed forward alone or attended only by Mr. 
Villiers, a brother correspondent ; we quote two more illus- 
trations : 

" In the first mile or two we traveled without company, 
but j)resently struck into the trail of a column of wagons 
preceding us on the same road. Its escort consisted of a 
mere handful of dragoons, mounted and on foot, and the 
column as a whole seemed in a very unhappy way. It was 
the train of Tutolmin's brigade of Circassian Cossacks, 
and on its way to find and join the brigade ; but where 
Tutolmin was nobody had the remotest concejDtion. Nor, 
indeed, was there any certainty that any force, any fore- 
posts, any curtain of cavalry was between it and the enemy, 



A SUBALTERN OF SEVENTY-THREE. 393 

or, at all events, the unexplored territory in which the 
enemy might be. At the foot of every little swell the 
wagons halted while the men escorting it on foot crept up 
and peered over the crest. At length, with darkness, this 
expedient was no more available, and so the convoy took 
its chance and did its own scouting, with not a few mut- 
terings among the men about the Circassians, of whose 
prowess they have a mighty high opinion. At length 
some camp-fires were seen in the dark distance, and about 
eleven o'clock we found ourselves on the edge of a camp 
belonging to a regiment of Don Cossacks, forming part of 
the second brigade of the cavalry division of the 12th 
Corps. No outlying picket challenged us, no sentry sang 
out the complicated Russian for ' Who goes there ? ' the 
provision column simply formed up and halted for the 
night without a question from anybody in the Cossack 
camp. We pitched outside the line of wagons, and then, 
seeing a light in what was obviously an officer's tent, went 
to pay our respects to its occupant. I have occasionally 
been curtly, never uncivilly, treated by Russian staff 
officers, in whom the sense of responsibility, no doubt, had 
blunted innate courtesy, but from officers of the line I 
have uniformly experienced the most genial friendliness. 
The Cossack colonel proved to be an extremely pleasant 
fellow. He told me that he had one squadron in a hollow 
on in front, and that, with this exception, there was nothing 
Russian between him and Biela, which he believed some 
Turks still occupied." 

And these were not exceptional instances of this sort of 
disregard of the first duty of a good soldier, proper caution 
in the country of an enemy. Before turning from this 
interesting letter, we must extract a pleasant allusion to a 
venerable lieutenant : 

" Here I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of 



394 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



the oldest lieutenant I have ever seen on active service. 
The age of this venerable subaltern is seventy-three, and he 
does his duty with as much zeal and energy as the youngest 
of his brother officers. He bears an historic name. It was to 
his father, General Count Rastapchin, that the burning of 
Moscow was confided when Napoleon's legions were nearing 
the venerable capital. And how thoroughly he fulfilled 
his sad duty its smouldering ashes but too well testified. The 
present Count Rastapchin, the sjmghtly lieutenant of 
seventy-three, is chamberlain to the Emperor, with the rela- 
tive rank of general ; but he has taken service in the Achtirski 
Regiment of Hussars, in the capacity I have mentioned, con- 
sidering his military knowledge not compatible with a 
higher grade, but determined to serve in this veritable 
crusade. He sits his Cossack horse like a man of thirty, 
and has not ridden a yard in a carriage since the regiment 
crossed the Pruth." 

However, we have no concern with Biela at present, its 
occupation belongs, not to the centre column, but to the 
12th Corps, of the Rustchuk Division. 

It will be recollected that at the "re-oganization" of the 
army at Sistova, General Gourko was given an independent 
command; this was primarily intended as a sort of ad- 
vance division to go in the van of the main column. He 
started out within a few days, going towards the Balkans, 
and was first heard from by courier on the 8th, when he 
had occupied Tirnova, There were about 2,000 Eedifs 
here, but they fled on the approach of the Russians. Ac- 
cording to Mr. MacGahan: "Tirnova is a place of about 
16,000 inhabitants, and is a convenient point for a base of 
operations in crossing the Balkans, but otherwise is not of 
great strategical importance, being too far away from the 
Balkans to give the command of the passes which converge 
upon it. It is not fortified, and would require immense 



ON TO TIKNOVA. 



395 



works to render it tenable as a fortress." " The infantry is 
pushing rapidly forward to support the cavalry" — so rap- 
idly that, as we shall see, they reached Tirnova on the 
12th. He adds : " The plan of the Turks, probably, is to 
let the Russian army advance thus far, then marching from 
Shumla, take it in flank and rear. The Russians hope for 
this, as they can then measure their strength with the 
Turks in the open field instead of behind fortifications." 
Fortunate was it for the Russians that the Turks had no 
plan, and that the hope was not gratified ! During the 
four days that intervened between the cavalry's occupation of 
Tirnova and the arrival of the " rapidly pushing forward " 
infantry, it would have required but a small force from 
Shumla to have sent a remnant of the cavalry back from 
Tirnova much more rapidly than they had come thither — 
and. even after the Grand Duke, " with the greater part of 
the 8th Corps," had arrived, quite a moderate army of 
Turks, under a competent commander, could have sent the 
Russians pushing backward still more rapidly. Well, indeed, 
has it been said by the same correspondent : " In presence 
of any other enemy but the Turks, the Russian advance on 
Tirnova, before Rustchuk and Nicopolis had been taken, 
would be a fearful blunder! * * * * but with the 
Turks to deal with, the Russians can do almost anything." 
Later in this same letter, the writer says : " It is not easy 
to understand the plan of the Turks, if, indeed, they have 
a plan at all." 

On the 12th, Mr. MacGahan wrote, from Tirnova : 
" This has been a great day for Tirnova. The Grand 
Duke arrived to-day at noon, with the greater part of the 
8th Corps, so that now the town may be considered really 
occupied by the Russians. The march from Sistova was 
rather like a military promenade or a triumphal procession 
than a forced march, which it really was. Everywhere the 



396 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



people came out to meet us, offering bread and salt and the 
most friendly greetings ; while the women and girls offered 
fruit and pelted us with flowers. At the entrance of many 
of the villages, arches were erected, covered with leaves 
and flowers. Processions, headed by priests, came out, 
singing, to meet us, with pictures from the churches, stand- 
ards and banners. There were deafening cheers, and the 
most extravagant joy. They insisted on shaking hands 
with us, would have kissed our hands had we allowed it, 
and sometimes they even shed tears. At the entrance of 
the village of Zavada, which is at the beginning of the 
gorge that leads to Tirnova, a rude arch was constructed of 
branches of trees. The whole population of the village 
gathered at the roadside near it. The soldiers, without 
orders from their officers, uncovered as they passed under, 
to the great delight of the peoj)le ; while a huge bar of iron 
beaten by a mallet gave forth the first sound resembling a bell 
heard here for four hundred years. Just inside this gorge 
or hollow are two very ancient monasteries, built one on 
each side of a steep mountain side. The priests from these 
monastries came down to meet us with banners and pictures, 
and a large, beautiful Bible, which as many of the soldiers 
as could, kissed as they passed, the people of these monas- 
teries hoisting old bells which had lain hidden in the 
basements for four hundred years, and the voices of which 
will soon again be heard rolling up and down the hollows 
and gorges of the mouu tains." 

The same day General Gourko and his division set out 
on their raid — but of this anon. 

Mr. MacGahan's account of the " forced march" from 
Sistova to Tirnova suggests thought, and demands comment; 
wherever, throughout Bulgaria, these "invaders" went, 
their advent was hailed with the wildest demonstrations of 
delight and they were welcomed with earnest and sincere, 



THE COMMAXDEE-IX-CHIEF AT TIEXOVA. 



397 



if often excessively demonstrative, expressions of grateful 
joy. At Tirnova the scene beggars description. The 
streets literally swarmed with men, women and children, 
decked in their holiday attire, and windows were deco- 
rated with flags and streamers. The Grand Duke was met 
at the entrance to the town by priests in their robes, chant- 
ing jxrayers in the old Slavonic dialect, and by immense 
crowds of people. In a continuous round of deafening 
cheers, he was conducted to the church where he attended 
a short sendee; then he was escorted along the streets, 
where a number of floral arches had been erected, with the 
word "Welcome!" conspicuous upon one, and in this 
triumphal street-parade, he was followed by almost the en- 
tire population, or at least of the Christian population, for 
the Mohammedans had nearly all fled upon the approach 
of the cavalry; those of the women and children who were 
not in the streets were at the windows liberally showering 
flowers upon the Grand Duke and his officers. And then, 
besides these demonstrations, the people literally threw 
their houses open to the " invaders," not merely willing but 
anxious to entertain them. The several correspondents, all 
except Mr. Boyle, the " Expelled Correspondent " of the 
London Standard, agree in speaking of the Bulgarian wel- 
come of the Russians as having been warm and enthusiastic, 
unquestionably heartfelt. The one village where alone it 
was otherwise, was Akchair, and here Mr. MacGahan sur- 
mises that either the people were afraid of the return of the 
Circassians after the Russians should have left, or they had 
been in some way ill-used by some stragglers of the Rus- 
sian cavalry, for, while the several correspondents who 
wrote from -Bulgaria uniformly sj^eak in terms of warm 
commendation of the behavior of the Russian soldiery to- 
wards the inhabitants, no intelligent reader requires to be 
told that it is simply impossible to have an army, or any 



398 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



large aggregation of men, so unexceptionable throughout 
as that it shall contain no scamps. 

In this connection it may not be amiss to offer a remark 
or two upon another side topic: Much has been written, by 
others besides Mr. Boyle, about the wanton destruction of 
the property and the theft of the transportable effects of 
fleeing Mussulmen by their Bulgarian neighbors, and the 
only excuse or palliation usually suggested is that the 
Christian Bulgars had so long been oppressed and mal- 
treated by the Turks that it was scarcely to be expected 
that they would not retaliate to the full measure of their 
ability, now upon their first opportunity ; but Mr. Mac- 
Gahan makes a statement which we should believe, because 
it seems probable, even were we not familiar wkh his cor- 
respondence, which bears the stamp of conscientious re- 
gard for truth in the most trifling, no less than in the more 
important, particulars; he states that "the retreating Turks" 
are not content to carry away all their own goods that can 
be carried and to drive away all their own, but "they drive 
off all the Bulgarian, live-stock — sheep, horses and cattle — 
that they can lay their hands on. Several villages we 
passed through had not one four-footed beast left." Can 
we marvel that "this measure, however justifiable on mili- 
tary grounds, exasperates the Bulgarians greatly?" Does 
not this fact fully explain, if it does not fully justify, the 
wrathful retaliation of the Bulgarians upon the property 
of their despoilers, and their appropriation of whatsoever 
they could remove to their own homes ? 

Well, the Grand Duke was now, July 12th, at Tirnova, 
with certainly not 20,000 men, and with practically no 
reserve to draw on for reinforcements in the possible con- 
tingency of the sudden advance of a large force from 
Shumla, or rather from Osman Bazar — the 4th Corps was 
many miles away in Boumania, and even were it to move 



CAPTURE OF NICOPOLIS. 



399 



far more rapidly than had the Grand Duke on his " forced 
march," it could not reach him inside of 60 to 72 hours, 
and the balance of the 8th was at Sistova, more than two 
days' march away ; Tirnova was not fortified and could not 
be soon made defensible. His march to Tirnova " was 
remarkable," says MacGahan, " for its rapidity when once 
begun" and we can imagine that, had the Turks come 
against him with such a force as they could readily have 
brought from Shumla, his march from Tirnova would have 
been begun more promptly and have proved still more 
" remarkable for its rapidity." But this writer says it was 
also " remarkable for the complete absence of opposition or 
even annoyance by the Turks. Not a single alarm, not a 
single shot fired. When we consider the distance j^ene- 
trated into the enemy's country, it is remarkable." It cer- 
tainly is remarkable, but not nearly so remarkable as the neg- 
lect of the Turks to move against Tirnova. With almost any 
other enemy this remarkable " absence of opposition or even 
annoyance " would have been ominous of serious work at 
Tirnova. Mr. Forbes, in a letter dated Pavlo, July 18th, 
speaks of the two Bustchuk corps as though they were 
available for the relief of the Grand Duke in the event of 
the Turkish army of the Lorn " changing its front and 
marching to its left, moving off into the Balkans," etc., 
because by so doing it would " show a flank, and, indeed, its 
rear, to this threatening mass of men, purposely motionless 
for the time, but ready to march quickly and far when the 
opportunity for doing good by so doing should offer." But, 
on the other hand, there was an army in and near Hustchuk 
which, in such an exigency, might have appeared in an 
uncomfortable quarter for " this threatening mass of men." 

The Russians, though slow in their movements, until 
after their defeats at Plevna and on the Lorn, were never 
lacking in energy or dash when once ready for action — 



400 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



indeed, their slowness was not in actual movement but in 
getting ready to move ; the remark of Mr. MacGahan 
concerning the Grand Duke, that "his march was re- 
markable for its rapidity when once begun," may be ad- 
mitted as generally true of nearly all the " marches " of 
the Russians in Bulgaria, while in every conflict both 
officers and men invariably proved themselves true soldiers 
in every particular. True to these characteristics, the 9th 
Corps was in no hurry in the starting out upon their as- 
signed task of taking Nicopolis, but, having once got 
started, they were energetic and brave in prosecuting the 
attack. General Kriidener and his officers and men, cer- 
tainly fully earned the credit of capturing Nicopolis, but 
if any one man, more than any other, achieved glory in 
the struggle there, it was the indomitable Turkish defender, 
Hassan Pasha, who, with but 2,000 regulars and 40 guns, 
held the fort against 36,000 Russians, well equipped in all 
respects, on the south and flanks, materially assisted by the 
batteries at Turna Magurelli with their heavy guns, suc- 
cessfully repelling rej^eated attempts to storm the works, 
until his supply of ammunition was entirely exhausted, 
when, realizing that no assistance was to be rendered him, 
he capitulated, July loth. When, on the 17th, he was 
brought to the Imperial head-quarters, his bearing, digni- 
fied but not defiant, confirmed the high regard he had won 
from his foes by his prowess, and he was treated with all 
the* consideration and courtesy that a brave victor knows so 
well how to extend to an equally brave captive. 

The capture of Nicopolis was, in more than one respect, 
a most important victory for the Russians: Mr. Forbes 
remarks, " the gain of the fortress frees the Russians from 
the threat of attack on the right flank," but it did much 
more : it relieved a large proportion of an army corps for 
service elsewhere, and, in a sense, released the two corps of 



THE AEMY OF KUSTCHUK PERMITTED TO MOVE. 401 



"the Army of Pustchuk," which had hitherto been inhibited 
from crossing the Yantra and approaching its destination. 

In a letter dated Pavlo, July 16th, Mr. Forbes says: 
" The inactivity of the Pustchuk Army is naturdly cre- 
ating great dissatisfaction among the officers eager for an 
opportunity to distinguish themselves. Earnest entreaties 
have been persistently sent to the head-quarters begging 
for a relaxation of the strict injunction that the infantry 
mass of the army was not to cross the Yantra foi? a ]ong 
time, but without effect. Yet the Czarewitch and his 
brother Vladimir were among the supplicants. General 
Nepokoitchitsky — that silent, determined little nan — was 
obdurate in the maintenance of the prohibition against any- 
thing save a defensive and preventive attitude." 

Then follows the singular passage we have above referred 
to, in which he regards these two corps as a "threatening 
mass of men," kept stationary as a check upon possible ag- 
gressive movements of "the Turkish Army of the Lorn," 
and then he proceeds: " The restriction against crossing the 
Yantra has at length given way. The Army of Rustchuk 
is to move on towards Rustchuk, and in course of doing so 
its right flank should come into contact with the positions 
of the Turkish field army on the River Lorn. Still, the 
advance will be a measured one. The head-quarters move 
only to a village called Beleova, on the east bank of the 
Yantra, about midway between Biela and the Danube, and 
the centre of the new position will be about Damogila, a 
village near Obertenik, the present head-quarters of the 
cavalry division of the 12th Corps. Although the advance 
will be slow, to all appearance, yet I believe that the mask- 
ing policy is abandoned, and that Bustchuk and Sbumla 
will be besieged. We may expect a bridge across the Dan- 
ube somewhere about Pirgos, to convey the siege-train to a 
place where it can be of use. Then will be found some 
26 



402 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



practical employment for that immense accumulation of large 
shells, weighing thousands of tons, collected at Banyasa, a 
station on the Bucharest and Giurgevo Railway, about ten 
miles north of Giurgevo. In the meantime the infantry 
advance will enable the cavalry to move forward and throw 
a circle of observation close around the rayon of the 
fortress, and thus isolate it from the rest of the world. It 
is of immense value to the Russians that they have ob- 
tained possession of Nicopolis thus early, setting free, as it 
does, quite a division, if not indeed a whole army corps." 

Two days later, he writes : " The staff of the Czarewitch 
has left here this morning, and crossed the Yantra in pre- 
paration for the advance on the Lorn River and the invest- 
ment of Rustchuk, with the army composed as already 
described." In this letter of the 18th, he mentions an 
incident that is interesting as an illustration of what might 
have been done by an enterprising, skillful enemy : " On 
Sunday night, when the Emperor was camped at Tsarevitza, 
a few miles south of Sistova, there was a sudden alarm. 
A Cossack rode in with a hurriedly-scribbled dispatch 
from a telegraph clerk at the bridge across the Danube to 
the effect that the Turks were marching from Nicopolis on 
Sistova, and threatening to sever the Russian communica- 
tions, destroy the bridge and compromise the safety of the 
Emperor. Immediate steps had to be taken. One brigade 
of the 11th Corps was in Tsarevitza. The other brigades 
of the same corps were forwarded. Dispositions were 
made with the artillery and infantry covering the line of 
the heights protecting the line of approach from Nicopolis. 
The Emperor himself assumed the chief direction of 
affairs, and is said to have shown at once the most perfect 
coolness and competent military ability. The scouts sent 
out brought back the intelligence that the country in the 
direction of Nicopolis was quiet, and presently arrived in- 



PLEVNA THE "BULL RUN " OF THE RUSSIANS. 403 



telligence from Baron Kriidener, commanding the 9th Corps, 
respecting his success at Nicopolis. It was ultimately dis- 
covered that the telegraph clerk had become confused and 
alarmed by the noise of firing at Mcopolis and concern 
for the Emperor's safety. The incident seems trivial, but 
shows on what thin ice the Russians have been treading 
with hostile forces left on both flanks." 

And yet Mr. Forbes was ever and anon writing of the 
Russian strategy, as if it were from the first, what it for- 
tunately became after the disasters of Plevna. No one of 
our readers who has served even in the humbler stations 
in the late civil war can read the history of the Russo- 
Turkish War without observing that the earlier disasters 
at Plevna were the " Bull Run " of the Russians, teaching 
them that, if they were to succeed it could only be by good 
generalship and hard fighting, and that the disasters there 
mark a radical change in the Russian plans and methods, 
although Russia had no such generals to contend with as 
Lee, the Johnstons and others of the Southern leaders. 

We have seen from the extract given above from Mr. 
Forbes's letter of July 18th, that the Czarewitch and his 
staff lost no time in moving their wing of the army when 
once permission was obtained, but that the permission was 
still only partial. It was not until several weeks had 
elapsed that these corps were enabled seriously to invest 
Rustchuk, or had an opportunity to encounter a foe. 
Hence, we have no occasion to dwell upon their movements 
in this chapter. 

On the same day (July 12th) that the Grand Duke ar- 
rived in Tirnova, General Gourko started out on his fa- 
mous raid.. Before venturing to approach the Passes of 
the Balkans with his division of scarcely 10,000 men, it 
was necessary to ascertain how far the Turkish concentra- 
tion, said to exist about Osman Bazar, was in force, and 



404 



THE CONQUEST OF TTTKKEY. 



whether the alignment of the enemy was prolonged from 
Osman Bazar in a southerly direction through the Balkans. 
Accordingly, he made a cavalry reconnoissance on the 
Shumla road in the direction of Osman Bazar, and pushed 
it' home with considerable determination. He had several 
sharp engagements, lost some men, and drew off, leaving 
the Turks firmly convinced that they had repulsed a 
serious attack. He had discovered that there were some 
6,000 Turks in the Osman Bazar district, which, however, 
constituted the left flank of the Turkish alignment between 
the Danube and the Balkans. Their line did not prolong 
itself into the mountains, so, leaving a detachment of the 
8th Corps, which had followed him, to watch the Turkish 
position about Osman Bazar, he coolly turned his back on 
the Turks and headed due south for the Balkans. 

About Elena he picked up the mass of his division, and 
in two forced marches, each of nearly thirty versts, he was 
in the heart of the Balkans, striking that section of the 
range known as the Elena Balkans. Through these there 
are three passes into the valley of the Tundja, nearly 
parallel with each other. One is called the Hainkoi 
Pass, from the name of the village at its southern exit. 
These passes and this road were discovered by Prince 
Tserteleff, to whom had been confided the whole business 
of obtaining information about the roads, the movements 
of the enemy, their numbers, dispositions, and so on. He 
soon ascertained that the Turks had fortified the Slievno 
and Shipka Passes in such a way as to render the forcing 
of a passage at either of them a very difficult matter, and 
he determined to look for another. Count Moltke in his 
book refers to a pass between those of Shipka and Slievno, 
but speaks of it as only a path not practicable for an army. 
Prince Tserteleff decided to investigate this triple pass, in 
the hope that it might lead to something. He soon ascer- 



THE HAItfKOI PASS. 



405 



tained that it had a very bad reputation — a place that was 
generally frequented by brigands, and rarely used either 
by Bulgarians or Turks. Among the Turks he found it 
had even a worse reputation than among the Bulgarians. 
It was a kind of tradition among them that this pass was 
in the clouds, that the defiles leading to it were so wild, so 
savage and barren, as to be unfrequented by either bird or 
beast — a kind of mountain desert where nothing could live. 
Pursuing his investigations, the Prince heard of a man 
who had been through the central pass, and, finding him, 
he learned that he had been through in fact, but that was 
two years ago, and the road might have become impassable 
since then. But what made the information really im- 
portant was that he had been through with one of the ox- 
carts of the country. If an ox-cart could go through, very 
probably a cannon might be got through somehow, and it 
was determined to reconnoitre and explore. Three days 
before the arrival of the Grand Duke at Tirnova, General 
Pauch went forward with 200 Cossacks for this purpose, 
taking with him Bulgarian guides. Without waiting to 
explore the road to the end, he immediately began prepar- 
ing it for the passage of artillery, a task which, as far as 
the pass itself was concerned, turned out to be no very 
difficult matter, as the worst part of the road was on the 
south side. The most wonderful part of it though was 
that, although these 200 Cossacks were working three days 
on this road, with the Bulgarian peasantry coming and 
going all the time freely, the Turks never got a whisper of 
their presence here, nor any intimation of the evident in- 
tention of the Pussians to try this j>ass. They even sent 
three battalions from Kezanlik to Slievno to strengthen the 
position before the latter place, and these three battalions 
passed by Khaini the day before the Pussians issued out. 
These three battalions were just where they ought to have 



406 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



been had they known it, and they could have prevented 
the success of the movement. And yet, although the 
whole Bulgarian population of a dozen mountain villages 
knew the Russians were there, not one man was found 
among them to inform the Turks. Such is the advantage 
possessed by an army operating among a friendly popula- 
tion. The Turkish staff either did not know of this pass 
at all, or, knowing it, believed it to be so impracticable that 
they did not even think it worth while to place a corps of 
observation to watch it. 

The only danger, therefore, that the Russians had to 
fear was that some wandering party of Bashi-Bazouks or 
marauders should pass that way and discover what they 
were at, or that the noise made by the Cossacks in repair- 
ing the road should excite the curiosity of the small Turkish 
force which it was known was at Khaini, at the outlet of the 
defile. They did not dare to use powder for blasting the 
rocks, by which they might have made the road passable 
in several places where it could hardly be called so for 
artillery in the condition in which it was left by the Cos- 
sacks. Prince Tserteleff, who has greatly distinguished 
himself during the passage, and to whom must be given 
the honor not only of discovering the pass but of conduct- 
ing and piloting the advance guard through it, went for- 
ward continually with one or two Bulgarians, reconnoiter- 
ing the route far in advance of even the advance guard. 
He even disguised himself in a Bulgarian peasant's clothes, 
and went forward on foot, anxious to see if the road were 
really practicable, before the whole column should advance 
to what might, after all, be only a sheep-path over which 
it would be impossible to take artillery ; and he was the 
first man of the Russian army and his the first horse to 
cross the summit, and the first to open out the defile at 
Khaini. 



GOUEKO SOUTH OF THE BALKANS. 



407 



Through each, Gourko passed a detachment, but he him- 
self, and the mass of his command, penetrated the defile 
of the Hainkoi Pass, narrow, with precipitous rocks on 
either side in places, and somewhat tortuous. In the most 
difficult part of the pass General Gourko's eclaireurs came 
on a battalion of Turkish Nizams, who appeared taken 
utterly by surprise by the sudden appearance of the daring 
Cossacks. Many were killed and wounded, and the rest 
bolted precipitately. 

Here, as in the two other passes, battery emplacements 
were found in judiciously chosen positions ; but they had 
remained unarmed. General Gourko had been too quick 
for the slow-paced, unmethodical Turks. When General 
Gourko had traversed this Hainkoi Pass he found himself 
in the valley of the Tundja, and he came out of the moun- 
tains into that valley at a singularly advantageous point, 
the village of Esekei, nearly equidistant from three im- 
portant places, Kezanlik, Yeni-Zagra and Eski-Zagra. 

The importance of Kezanlik consists in its being at the 
mouth of the Shipka Pass, the main thoroughfare between 
Gabrova and Kezanlik. Yeni-Zagra is on the branch rail- 
way to Yamboli. Eski-Zagra is quite beyond the Balkans, 
on the higher slopes of the Maritza Valley, and is the 
focus of good roads leading to all points of the valley. 
General Gourko knew that reinforcements were following 
him, and, seemingly believing in the axiom that nothing 
succeeds like success, struck at all three places. Pie sent 
a detachment of Cossacks to cut the railway and telegraph 
at Yeni-Zagra, and a small body of cavalry to occupy 
Eski-Zagra, and collect transport materials. As for Kezan- 
lik, information reached him that it and the Shipka Pass 
were strongly held by the Turkish troops. Assuming that 
these belonged to the same army he had already touched 
at Osman Bazar, his march had cut them off. He had 



408 



THE CONQUEST OF TUHKEY. 



traversed the line of communication between them and 
their main body. If so, they would the more easily be 
dealt with. If, on the other hand, they belonged to troops 
in force further west, or were simply an independent com- 
mand, the daring wisdom of attacking them seemed to 
General Gourko equally obvious. So, instead of setting 
his face in a south-easterly direction down into the valley, 
with the glittering spires of Adrianople as his objective, he 
turned westward, and marched up the Tundja Valley on 
Kezanlik. 

This was on the 14th. On the 15th, as Gourko ap- 
proached Konaro, his vanguard was attacked, but after 
some sharp fighting the Turks were repulsed, Konaro oc- 
cupied and two of their camps taken. On the same day 
the Cossacks sent to Yeni-Zagra successfully cut the tele- 
graph and railway. Next day, the 16th, Gourko marched 
on Maglish. His troops formed in three columns, one con- 
sisting of infantry, close to the mountains. The middle 
column was cavalry and infantry, and the left column 
cavalry only, with orders to cover the flank, and, if possible, 
to turn that of the enemy. At Uflami he was stopped by 
a strong position, and had to cope with the Turkish artil- 
lery, cavalry and infantry. While he was pushing them 
hard, five battalions of Anatolian Nizams came up as re- 
inforcements, and behaved well. 

Their fire begun, as it was, at 2,000 paces, caused the 
Russians considerable loss, the Russian orders being not to 
open fire till within 600 paces of the enemy. But when 
their distance was reached they poured in a fire which soon 
compelled the Anatolians to give ground. The Russian 
direct attacking force was four battalions of rifles and two 
sotnias of infantry Cossacks, whom the Turks call "priests," 
because of the cross they wear to distinguish them from 
the Circassian Turks. While the direct attack was being 



PRINCE MIESKY ATTACKS THE SHIPKA PASS. 409 

delivered, the Russian hussars and dragoons charged the 
Turkish flank. There was hot fighting, sabre and bayonet 
being used freely. The Turks were at length driven from 
their position, 400 being left dead at one point. The Turks 
fought bravely here, but their defeat at Uflami seemed to 
destroy their morale, and subsequently they did not fight 
so well. 

On the 17th, General Gourko approached Kezanlik. 
There was terrible heat and it was severe marching. The 
infantry waded into little streams to become soaked and so 
gain coolness. There was fighting more or less all day. 
On the evening of the 17th, General Gourko entered Ke- 
zanlik. The Turks had detailed from the force holding 
the Shipka Pass a column to occupy the heights flanking 
the entrance to Kezanlik and hinder General Gourko's 
advance ; but his riflemen were beforehand in occupying 
these heights, and the Turks retired. It had been designed 
that Gourko should reach Kezanlik on the 16th, and on 
the 17th be free to assail in the rear the Turks holding the 
Shipka Pass, while Prince Mirsky with the 9th Division 
attacked them in front. But he was delayed by hard 
fighting, and the troops were too much fatigued to move 
further on the day of the occupation of Kezanlik. Mean- 
while, after it was known that General Gourko had fairly 
started for the Balkans, Prince Mirsky with his division 
was sent to his assistance ; Gourko, as we have said, ex- 
pected to be ready to advance into the Shipka Pass from 
the south on the 17th, and it was arranged that Prince 
Mirsky should advance into it from the north at the same 
time; but General Gourko having been detained, there 
was no actual co-operation. According to the pre-arranged 
plan, Prince Mirsky advanced from Gabrova on the 17th, 
and, holding one regiment in reserve at the entrance, sent 
forward the other, Count Orloff commanding, to attack the 



410 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Turks. OrlofF divided his regiment into three columns. 
The pass was strongly fortified with six successive tiers of 
intrenchments and batteries, and defended by picked Turk- 
ish regulars, Circassians and Egyptians. The latter fought 
well. Of Prince Mirsky's three columns, that on the 
right encountered little opposition and went on some dis- 
tance, till it missed the support of the centre column, fought 
five or six hours, and then made good its lodgment in the 
hostile lines. The left column, consisting of two companies, 
missed its way, and was beset by twelve companies of 
Turkish soldiers. It fought a retreating combat for four 
hours against terrible odds, losing eight officers killed and 
wounded and about 150 men. It was brought out of 
action by the only officer left standing, and he was 
wounded. 

On the 18th, General Gourko, his men refreshed, ad- 
vanced to the attack of the Shipka position from the south. 
Two battalions of rifles formed his advance. As they 
neared the rear of the position a flag of truce came out 
with a parlementaire, or messenger. The rifles at once 
halted and, an officer acting as escort, went forward to 
meet them. While negotiations were going on, the 
Russian riflemen quitted their extended formation, and 
drew together into a mass behind where the interview 
was held. Suddenly volleys of rifle fire were poured 
in upon them from the Turkish position. The par- 
lementaire took to his heels at a signal which the Russians 
heard but did not comprehend. So sudden and fierce was 
the fire that in their two battalions the Russians lost 142 
men killed and wounded in a few minutes. The sur- 
vivors, in their fury, waited for no order to attack, nor 
regarded any formation. With one common impulse and 
with yells of wrath they rushed on. It was a bad quarter 
of an hour for the Turks, but the riflemen, finding no 



THE SHIPKA PASS CAPTURED. 



411 



signs of co-operation in the attack from the north by- 
Prince Mirsky, contented themselves with driving back 
the Turks some distance, and occupied the abandoned 
Turkish camp in the rear of the fortifications. On the 
same night, in reply to General Gourko's summons to the 
Turks to surrender and abandon the further unavailing 
defense of the pass, there came a letter from the Turkish 
commander, Mehemet Pasha, offering to surrender. Nego- 
tiations were entered into, and the hour for the surrender 
of the Turks was fixed for twelve o'clock the next day. 
An armistice was arranged, and early on that morning the 
sanitary detachments went forward to bring in the wounded 
which the rifle battalions had been forced to leave behind. 
They sent back word that the Turks had fled and vacated 
the position. The offer of surrender was a ruse to gain time. 

Meanwhile, on the 18th, Prince Mirsky had remained 
quiet, waiting for further information about Gourko's 
movements. But on the 19th, young Skobeleff, taking 
some troops of Mirsky's, had pushed forward a reconnois- 
sance into the pass from the north. To his surprise he 
met with no opposition as he passed line after line of for- 
tifications, and the hastily abandoned Turkish camps, with 
fires yet burning, rations half cooked, and half-written 
telegrams. At length he reached the crest of the pass, 
and the view to the south opened before him. In a hollow 
at his feet he saw troops in camp. Were they Turks or 
Russians? The tents seemed Turkish, but the soldiers 
looked like Russians. Skobeleff tried the Russian hurrah 
as a test, but it was not replied to. At length he saw the 
red cross flag of the ambulance staff, and he knew that the 
men in the«valley were his own people. A junction was 
immediately effected. All the Turkish camps and bag- 
gage, twelve cannon, four of them guns of position, and 
four hundred Turkish prisoners were taken 



412 THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 

In a letter written from Biela, dated July 23d, Mr. 
Forbes says : " The Shipka position is chiefly in a forest, 
and very difficult. The fortifications are very skillfully 
designed, and are alleged to have been constructed by an 
English engineer officer. General Gourko reports that all 
his wounded had been killed on the field where they fell, 
and the dead and wounded were found headless, and other- 
wise fearfully mutilated. There had been apparent delib- 
eration, for the fallen Russians had been gathered together 
Into groups. Some Turkish wounded were found who, in 
expectation of a similar fate, drew their daggers, when the 
Russians approached, and prepared to sell their lives 
dearly. Their lives were spared, and they were attended 
to. General Gourko remains in Kezanlik till the 8th 
Corps, now occupying the defiles of the Balkans, shall 
have passed through them and massed, with supplies, for 
further progress. The road at present is only practicable 
for vehicles drawn by bullocks ; but large numbers of men 
are engaged in inrproving it. Several days will elapse 
before the onward move is made. Even the cavalry expe- 
ditions are suspended for the moment. The Turks sacri- 
ficed their chances of defense by continually dribbling 
forward reinforcements of two or three battalions at a time 
instead of either attacking in force, or keeping the bulk of 
their troops in hand for a strongly sustained defensive 
effort. Their treachery respecting the flag of truce and 
their mutilation of the wounded are barbarities which 
place them beyond the pale of civilized warfare." 

Thus far General Gourko's raid had been an eminent 
success, and, had not disasters elsewhere rendered it impos- 
sible to support him and follow up his movements with a 
large infantry force, there can be no question that the ex- 
pedition would have resulted in the important permanent 
advantages which had been anticipated from it; for his 



GOUKKO'S TEMPORARY SUCCESS AT YENI-ZAGRA. 413 

ultimate misfortunes, which we shall directly notice, were 
evidently due to the meagreness of his numbers and the 
lack of support. He had, by a Cossack detachment, cut 
the railway and telegraph at Yeni-Zagra, but subse- 
quently a Turkish force had occupied that town, and when 
Gourko had accomplished his work in Shipka Pass and 
saw it occupied by Prince Mirsky, he determined to pro- 
ceed at once to that important position. Having divided 
his force into three columns, he started from Kezanlik on 
the 29th of July; the columns were to march by divergent 
routes but to converge upon Yeni-Zagra. The right column, 
consisting of the Bulgarian Legion, two batteries of artil- 
lery and three regiments of cavalry, were to march from 
Eski-Zagra; the central column, under Gourko himself? 
consisting of the Rifle Brigade, a regiment of Cossacks 
and four batteries of artillery, marched from Kezanlik ; the 
left column, of five battalions of infantry, two batteries 
and some Cossacks, marched from Hainkoi, the objective 
of all three columns being Yeni-Zagra. Gourko marched 
from Kezanlik, a terrible march of forty miles long. 
Nevertheless his troops came into action next morning on 
the left flank of the Turkish intrenchments in front of the 
railway station at Yeni-Zagra, to support the attack of the 
left column on their right flank. The Turks fought desper- 
ately, and bayonet fighting was long and strenuous, but 
after midday the Russians forced the position, drove out 
the Turks, took Yeni-Zagra, captured three guns, blew up 
the railway station and destroyed an immense mass of 
Turkish ammunition and stores. For want of cavalry, no 
pursuit was then possible; but next day the Cossacks fell 
on the retreating Turks. In the afternoon came tidings, 
by a circuitous route, that the right column was seriously 
compromised in an attempt to force its way from Eski-Za- 
gra, and General Gourko determined to march westward 



414 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



to its succor. That night (the 30th) he reached Kara- 
bunar, where he arrived in darkness, but the whole valley 
was illuminated by blazing villages. Next morning he 
marched onward upon Dzuranli, on the road to Eski-Zagra, 
ignorant of the fact that some 30,000 Turks confronted 
him, and stopped the road into the latter place. The 
Turkish batteries swept the road with persistent fire; 
nevertheless General Gourko came into action, sending 
forward five battalions of infantry, covered by artillery. 
He had forty-eight horses killed in one battery, and eight 
in another. Later the Turkish masses strove to turn the 
Russian left. The operation was resisted by the Tirailleur 
Brigade, supported by two regiments of the 9th Division. 
The attack was repelled, but with heavy fighting. Still 
later a column of Circassian cavalry strove to turn the 
Russian right on the mountain slopes, and the attack was 
succeeding, when there appeared on the scene Leuchten- 
berg's cavalry, which had cut its way from Eski-Zagra, and 
which repelled the movement of the Circassians and saved 
the right wing. General Gourko then pressed forward, 
and reached a position which afforded him a distant view of 
Eski-Zagra. Here there came to him an orderly who had 
evaded the Turks and brought him intelligence that his 
right column, consisting of the Bulgarian Legion, was be- 
set in Eski-Zagra by a force of Turks estimated at twenty 
thousand men. General Gourko, small as was his force, 
resolved on an attempt to succor them, and in the mean- 
time he determined to maintain his position, but his reso- 
lution quailed before the a23pearance of two massive 
columns of Turks marching on his flank and rear. He 
had to leave the Bulgarians to shift for themselves, and 
make good his own retreat through the difficult and nar- 
row Dalboka Pass, and thence through the Hainkoi Pass, 
accomplishing his retreat on Thursday, 2d August, amid 



BARBARITIES BY THE TURKS. 



415 



cruel hardships. In the retreat many of the wounded died 
from jolting and exposure. Hale men succumbed from 
fatigue and sunstroke. As for the Bulgarian Legion, com- 
posing Gourko's right column, they, after advancing from 
Eski-Zagra ten kilometres towards Karabunar, found the 
enemy and were driven in. On the 31st of July, after 
very hard fighting, the Bulgarians had to retire into the 
defile north of Eski-Zagra, and thence effect their retreat 
through the Shipka Pass. Of the severity of the fighting 
a judgment may be formed from the fact that of the Bul- 
garian Legion, which began sixteen hundred strong, only 
between four and five hundred reached Shipka. In the 
fighting of the 30th and 31st of July, General Gourko 
lost three thousand men, excluding the Bulgarian loss. 

The losses of General Gourko in these unfortunate bat- 
tles of Eski-Zagra, large as they were, were really of small 
account in themselves as compared with the horrible scenes 
that were enacted in that region after he had been com- 
pelled to retreat. Some barbarities have been charged 
against "the Russians and their followers," by a corre- 
spondent of the Daily News, writing from the head-quarters 
of Suleiman Pasha, he cites an instance of a Mussulman 
who was said to have been found by the Turks "split in 
halves, and otherwise mutilated in the most frightful man- 
ner," and mentions "a telegram from Reouf Pasha" 
which had been shown him, "stating that the inhabitants 
of five villages near Eski-Zagra have been slaughtered, 
man, woman and child, three hundred and forty in num- 
ber, by the retreating Russians." But no doubt the in- 
stance cited and the telegram referred to were gotten up by 
the Turkish leaders to offset the undeniable atrocities per- 
petrated by the " Bashi-Bazouks" and other "irregulars" 
of their own army, for there is no one fact better attested 
than that the Russians neither perpetrated nor sanctioned 



416 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



any inhumanity even in retaliation. The improprieties 
committed by the Bulgarians, as noticed earlier, were con- 
fined to depredations upon, and destruction of, the property 
left by fleeing Turks, and there appears to be no authen- 
ticated instance of even a single individual, man, woman 
or chiid, killed otherwise than in battle, or mutilated be- 
fore or after death, either by Russians or " their followers/' 
If, indeed, there were exceptional instances of the kind 
chargeable to the Bulgarians, we may readily account for 
them as a natural consequence of the fearful treatment they 
and theirs had experienced but a short time before, and 
cannot at all hold the Russians to have been directly or re- 
motely responsible. On the other hand, the massacres 
which followed Suleiman Pasha's first successes exceeded 
even those perpetrated upon the Bulgarians in May, 1876, 
and have made Eski-Zagra a name to call up memories 
more horrible than those of Batak. 



CHAPTEE XIII. 



THE FIEST AKMENIAN CAMPAIGN. 

Akmenia, the scene of the operations of the Asiatic 
division of the Russian forces, is one of the most interest- 
ing regions of the earth. This elevated table-land, now 
divided between Russia, Persia and Turkey, was, for long 
ages, an independent kingdom, and figured largely in the 
annals of the Assyrian, Persian and Roman Empires, to 
which it successively belonged. It claims to be the oldest 
country in the world, and not without reason, for the 
earliest traditions of various great races point thither, and 
the Biblical Eden, defined as the source of four great 
rivers, the Euphrates, Hidclekel or Tigris, Pison and Gihon 
can only have been within its limits. The two former 
rivers require no description, while the two latter must be 
identified respectively with the Churuk, flowing into the 
Black Sea near Batum, and the Araxes, or Aras, which falls 
into the Caspian, after serving for two hundred miles as the 
boundary between the Russian provinces of Transcaucasia 
and the Persian province of Aderbijan. The meeting 
point of the three empires was on the summit of the Little 
Ararat, above which, to the westward, towers the snow- 
clad summit of Great Ararat, to which ancient tradition 
points as the resting-place of the Ark of Noah, and conse- 
quently the second cradle of our race. Not far to the 
north-west of Ararat, almost on the late Russian frontier, is 
the great fortress of Kars, whose name is, in Europe, a 
417 



418 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



household word, from its heroic defense by Sir Fenwick 
Williams, during the Crimean war. With Erzerum, the 
capital, situated one hundred and fifty miles to the west- 
ward, Kars was again to divide the chief interest of a 
memorable campaign. The national destiny of the Arme- 
nians was now to be fixed, and henceforth they are to be 
regarded from a Russian, rather than from a Turkish, point 
of view. 

At the commencement of hostilities, great relative im- 
portance was attached to the campaign in the Asiatic pro- 
vinces, not merely by the Russians themselves, but by the 
world at large. The reason is not far to seek. However 
victorious Russia might be in Europe, the jealousies of 
rival powers would prevent her making territorial acquisi- 
tions to any great extent in that quarter. If the frontiers 
of Holy Russia were to be pushed southward, it was in 
Armenia alone that such compensation for the toils of war 
could be obtained. Moreover, it was a region in which 
Russia had been traditionally successful in former wars. 
Both Kars and Erzerum had twice before been in Russian 
hands, and it was confidently believed that this time they 
would be the prizes of victory. 

A Russian army, known as the Army of the Caucasus, 
had, for months, been gathering in Transcaucasia, and was 
erroneously supposed to be exceedingly strong. It was 
under the immediate command of the Grand Duke Michael, 
brother of the Czar, and numbered among its generals 
such men as Loris Melikoff, Heymann, LazarefF and Tergu- 
kassoff. The forces were stationed in four columns along the 
extended frontier, their head-quarters being at Alexandropol 
(formerly called Gumri), a strong fortress on the Arpa- 
Chai, a branch of the upper Araxes, less than thirty 
miles from Kars. All preparations having been made for 
a simultaneous movement, the frontier was crossed in 



THE ADVANCE AGAINST KAKS. . 419 

the early morning of April 24th, at five places. The 
Erivan detachment, under General TergukassofF, moved 
southward upon Bayazid, an important town and citadel at 
the base of Ararat, on the main caravan road between 
Asia Minor and Persia. Being held by an insignificant 
garrison, numbering only 1,700 men, it was abandoned 
April 26th, and was occupied without resistance April 30th. 
The Alexandropol Corps, under General Loris Melikoff, 
a native of Armenia, who had won distinction in 1855, 
in the previous capture of Kars, crossed the Araxes 
at two points, taking the Turkish outposts prisoners. 
On the third day, he crossed the Kars Biver and 
occupied the villages of Kuruk-dara, Subatan and Haclji- 
Veli, which were destined to acquire celebrity some 
months later. On the 29th, General Melikoff himself 
advanced to Zaim, some miles north of Kars, and dis- 
patched a heavy column of cavalry with sixteen guns, to 
intercept communications between Kars and Erzerum. It 
succeeded in cutting the telegraph and gave vigorous chase 
to a Turkish detachment of eight battalions with which 
Ahmed Muktar Pasha, the Turkish Commander-in-Chief 
in Asia, was proceeding from Kars towards Erzerum, and 
being supported by an additional force of grenadiers 
and forty cannon, had an artillery duel at Vezinkoi, with 
eight more Turkish battalions, which sallied against them 
from Kars. The Russians then remained in an attitude of 
observation around Kars, constructing siege batteries, and 
frequently bombarding that fortress, during the whole 
month of May. 

The remaining Bussian detachment, called the Army of 
the Bion, under command of Lieutenant-General Oklobio, 
marched upon Batum, a strongly-fortified port on the 
Black Sea, near the Bussian frontier. This detachment, 
which was also divided into two columns, crossed the fron- 



420 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



tier near Akhaltsik, and the left column, under Major- 
General Denibekoff, captured on the 25th, after a serious 
engagement, the Turkish camp of Muchastir, an outpost of 
the strong fortress of Ardahan. General Oklobio pro- 
ceeded to take up a position in front of Batum, and on May 
11th, suffered a repulse by the Turkish garrison. This was 
the first engagement of the war, and was in itself insig- 
nificant, but it was at the time heralded through Europe as 
a sanguinary defeat inflicted upon the Russians. 

The defenses in Armenia were in a most unsatisfactory 
condition. It was not until March 25th, that the Porte 
had become satisfied of the necessity of taking prompt 
measures, and determined upon the appointment of Ahmed 
Muktar Pasha to the command of the 4th Ottoman Army 
Corps, charged with the maintenance of the Asiatic fron- 
tier. Muktar Pasha, the most important personage in the 
Armenian chapters of this work, is a native of Brusa, and 
though only forty years of age, has been long in public 
life, having been professor of the military academy at Con- 
stantinople, governor of Yemen and of Erzerum, and 
having more recently held command in the campaign of 
1876 against Montenegro and Herzegovina. He had also 
been tutor to the eldest son of Sultan Abdul- Aziz, and had 
visited, with his pupil, Austria, Germany, France and 
England. He arrived at Trebizond, March 30th, and at 
Erzerum, April 7th, applied himself with great activity 
to calling out the reserves and organizing supplies, and 
reached Kars April 20th. The old defenses of Kars had 
been very much strengthened during the preceding year : 
and new fortifications had been built on an extensive scale 
and were tolerably well provided with modern artillery. 
As has been seen, the Russian advance gave Muktar but a 
few days wherein to improve the defenses of Kars, when 
he wisely determined to fall back towards Erzerum, which 



SIEGE OF AKDAHAN. 



421 



he effected not without an encounter with the Russian Cav- 
alry. His new position was at Hunkiar Duzu, on the 
western slopes of the Soghanlu Mountains, a range running 
from north-east to south-west, about a third of the way 
between Kars and Erzerum, and now constituting the new 
boundary of the Russian and Turkish possessions in 
Armenia. 

Hussein Hami Pasha, a general of division, was left in 
command of Kars, with 29 battalions, numbering about 
17,000 men. The entire forces under Muktar Pasha, 
though they figured on paper as 70 battalions of infantry, 24 
squadrons of cavalry, 18 batteries of artillery and 5 com- 
panies of engineers, probably did not at this time exceed 
40,000 men. 

The first important event of the campaign was the siege 
and capture of Ardahan, the fortress intermediate between 
Kars and Batum, which was garrisoned by 14 battalions of 
infantry and 60 pieces of artillery, under command of 
Hassan Sabri Pasha. On the 5th and 10th of May, the 
Russian General Dewel made reconnoissances in force near 
Ardahan, but on both occasions was driven back by the 
Turks. General Melikoff arrived a day or two later and 
assumed chief command of the besieging forces consisting 
of the two columns from Alexandropol and Akhaltsik, 
which attacked on opposite sides. The united army num- 
bered 16,000 men. Ardahan is situated near the head 
waters of the River Kur, a tributary of the Caspian. Its 
fortress was new, and did not exist at the time of the Cri- 
mean war. There were eleven strong forts, all constructed 
on modern plans. Of these, the most important were 
Guli-verdi,«on a steep mountain two and a half miles to 
the south, defending the Kars road, and near it the Singer- 
tabia, which latter, from its triangular shape and peculiar 
terrace-like arrangement, was supposed to be built from 



422 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



designs by an English engineer. On the north side of the 
river, which was crossed by two bridges, was a fort called 
Kai-tabia, and two miles farther north on a mountain dom- 
inating the town, was the stronghold of Ramazan-tabia. 
The whole garrison numbered 8,000 men, with 92 guns, 
mostly old and of small calibre. 

General Melikoff, on the night of May 16th, planted 
four batteries against Guli-verdi, where the real attack was 
to be made. The next morning, the Akhaltsik column 
made a feigned attack against Ramazan-tabia on the north, 
while a destructive fire was poured into Guli-verdi. The 
Turks scarcely replied, probably from lack of ammunition. 
In the afternoon, General Dewel carried the heights of 
Guli-verdi, without losing a man or firing a shot, and the 
fire of the Russian batteries was next directed against the 
town. At half past five, a general assault all along the 
line was ordered. Singer-tabia and the forts south of the 
river were quickly carried, and the Turks driven across 
the bridges into Kai-tabia, whither they were hotly pur- 
sued by General Gaiman, at the head of the Akhaltsik 
column. The Turks soon fled, and before dark the town 
was in possession of the Russians. On perceiving this, the 
garrison of Ramazan-tabia became panic-stricken and fled 
along the road to Batum. The heroes of the storming of 
Ardahan were Generals Komaroff and Count Grabbe, 
both afterwards distinguished at the capture of Kars. 

The Russian losses in the whole affair according to the 
Russian official bulletin, given by a correspondent of the 
Daily JSFeivs, were 67 killed and 293 wounded, besides one 
officer killed and ten officers wounded, making altogether 
370 killed and wounded. The loss of the Turks, owing 
to the superiority of the Russian arms and the precision of 
the Russian firing, was still greater. Among the wounded 
in the hospital was the constructor of the fort of Singer- 



OPERATIONS BEFORE EARS. 423 

tabia. He was found by Colonel Boolmering, the con- 
structor of the Russian batteries, who was anxious to see 
him and talk with him, but the poor fellow died almost 
as soon as he was discovered. The Russians captured 
ninety-two guns, an immense number of tents and camp 
material, also a large supply of flour and provisions, but 
little or no ammunition. There were very few prisoners 
taken, and those of the Redifs, or reserves, who had 
been forced to come in from the surrounding villages, 
were immediately released and allowed to return to 
their homes; the ]S"izams, or regular troops only, were 
held as prisoners of war. Among the prisoners taken 
was General Ali Pasha, commander of the Turkish left 
wing, and several Turkish civil officials, besides many 
officers who had been wounded or otherwise disabled. 
The inhabitants, who had fled during the attack, upon 
being assured by the Russians that no harm should 
come to them, began to return, and in a very few days 
the town had resumed nearly its ordinary aspect. 

After the capture of Ardahan, General Melikoff returned 
to his former position before Kars, and began to erect siege 
batteries, at the same time throwing out reconnoissances 
towards the Soghanlu Mountains, where Muktar Pasha had 
strengthened his position by the arrival of reserves from 
Erzerum, and by the incorporation of a considerable num- 
ber of auxiliaries from Kurdistan. The Russian column, 
under General TergukassofT, meanwhile, was advancing 
from Bayazid, and the former garrison of that place which 
had made a stand at Diyadin, was pushed back until it 
rejoined the right wing of Muktar Pasha, which, under 
the command of Lieutenant-General Mahomed Pasha, had 
its head-quarters in a strong position at Topra-Kaleh, 
where the long defile of Tabic debouches into the great 
Plain of Alashgerd, bounded to the north by the Ararat 



424 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



range of mountains. The left wing, which had occupied 
Ardahan had, for the most part, fallen into the hands of 
the enemy, and the portion consisting of local forces had 
disbanded and returned to their several villages. 

The capture of Ardahan was a surprise to Muktar 
Pasha, who had not visited that place, but had been led to 
suppose that it could offer a prolonged resistance. The 
Russian forces were now supposed to be very strong, and 
in the belief that he was liable to be attacked on both 
wings at any moment, the Turkish Commander-in-Chief 
fell back to Yenikoi. His immediate forces, on June 6th, 
amounted only to 16 battalions of infantry, 4 squadrons of 
cavalry, 2 batteries of Krupp cannon and 12 mountain- 
guns. This, however, does not include the right wing, 
under Mahomed Pasha, which held the pass of Tahir, south 
of the Araxes, and, after receiving reinforcements early in 
June, consisted of 14 battalions of infantry, 400 irregular 
cavalry and 2 Krupp batteries. 

At the end of May, a large part of the Russian column 
from Ardahan made a reconnoissance in force towards Erze- 
rum, and on June 3d and 4th occupied Olti and Nahri- 
man, not far to the northward of Turkish head-quarters, 
which now withdrew to the plateau of Zevin, midway between 
Kars and Erzerum, a locality destined to be the scene of 
a decisive defeat of the invaders a few weeks later. This 
position Muktar Pasha fortified with great care, raj^idly 
reorganized his little army, which was now daily being 
strengthened by the arrival of the Armenian and Kurdish 
contingents, and sent a force to Bardes, in the enemy's 
rear, which, after a slight engagement, caused the Russians 
to evacuate Olti, on June 8th, and retire towards Ardahan. 
The investment of Kars by General Melikoff, was com- 
pleted June 2d, and during the remainder of the month, 
desultory bombardments and skirmishes were carried on 
without any noteworthy result. 




COSSACK OF THE LINE. 



REVOLT IN THE CAUCASUS. 



425 



The Ottoman authorities by no means intended to limit 
their operations in Asia to resisting the Russian advance. 
In the Black Sea the Turkish squadron had, early in May, 
bombarded, with slight effect, several of the Russian coast 
towns, and a great movement was prepared to assail the 
enemy's rear in a most vulnerable point. The inhabitants 
of the province of Abkhasia, lying at the north-eastern 
extremity of the Black Sea, upon the western slopes of the 
Caucasus, are Mahommedans, and bitterly hostile to Rus- 
sia. A considerable portion of them, after the Crimean 
war, preferred exile to submission to the hated Muscovite, 
and these emigrants were settled in large numbers along 
the Armenian coast. It was now determined to make use 
of these exiles to provoke a formidable insurrection among 
their countrymen. Sukhum Kaleh, the most important 
port in Abkhasia, was cajDtured by the Turkish squadron 
May 13th, and burned to the ground. A considerable 
force of Abkhasian exiles was landed, who immediately 
penetrated the hills in every direction and in a few days 
the whole Mussulman population was in open insurrection. 
Many villages along the coast were burned, the estates 
devastated and the telegraph lines destroyed. In combi- 
nation with the neighboring Circassians, the insurgents 
were soon strong enough to advance inland against the 
province of Mingrelia, and to threaten the entire line of 
Russian defenses along the River Kodor. It was probably 
the tidings of these events, rather than the prowess of 
Muktar Pasha's cavalry, which caused the retreat of the 
Ardahan column from 01 ti. 

Early in June it was still believed by Muktar Pasha 
that the Russian Army of the Caucasus would advance 
with resistless strength upon Erzerum. Its numbers were 
calculated at 120,000 men, to meet which the entire Turk- 
ish forces were little more than 50,000. Had General! 



426 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



MelikofF known or suspected the weakness of his antago- 
nist, there can be no doubt that sound military judgment 
would have dictated the utmost activity in presenting him- 
self before the capital of Armenia, which, at the beginning 
of June, was garrisoned by less than 20,000 men. It 
could have been carried by a coup de main, and, even if 
Muktar Pasha had thrown his whole army within that 
city, that step would have facilitated the unopposed con- 
centration of all the converging Russian columns upon this 
single point. Muktar, himself, considered the campaign 
as lost, and thought it only remained to "make a good 
losing fight." All the war correspondents who accompa- 
nied him freely expressed the same opinion, and the 
numerous Russian sympathizers in Erzerum, both native 
and foreign, looked forward with exultation to an immedi- 
ate termination of the campaign by the complete conquest 
of Armenia. It was even deemed possible that the Rus- 
sians might push forward a strong column to the north- 
eastern angle of the Mediterranean, at Scanderun, thus 
cutting off Syria from Asia Minor. 

The inaction of the Russians and their retreat from Olti, 
before an insignificant force, did not suffice to dispel this 
cloud of gloomy apprehension. It was sagely conjectured 
that the Muscovite had prepared a trap for his enemy, and 
a whole plan of campaign was attributed to him, of which 
he was entirely innocent. According to the strategists, the 
Russians should have made Bayazid their base of opera- 
tions. They should have swept southward to Lake Van, 
whence, after garrisoning Melasgerd and Mush at the 
passes of the Murad or eastern branch of the Euphrates, 
they should have crossed the Bingol range by the pass of 
Khynus, or Knis, and debouched in the plain of the Upper 
Araxes, just south of Erzerum. 

This plausible strategy, it is needless to say, was not 



MASSACRE AT BAYAZID. 



427 



attempted by the Russians, but its counterpart was success- 
fully executed in behalf of the Turks. Early in June, 
Muktar Pasha had detached Faik Pasha with five bat- 
talions of infantry, a few mountain-guns and a large 
force of irregular cavalry, upon a daring expedition to cut 
off the base of the Russian left wing, on the Bayazid 
route. Faik had proceeded southward from Erzerum 
across the Bingol Dagh to Melasgerd, where he divided 
his force into two brigades, sent one of them up the Murad 
River, where it will hereafter be heard from, and with the 
other suddenly appeared before Bayazid from the south, 
on June 14th. General Tergukassoff had left in that town 
a garrison of only 1,500 Cossacks. An immense levy of 
Kurdish cavalrymen advanced from Van, under Sheikh 
Jelaledin, and joined Faik before Bayazid, augmenting 
his numbers by 22,000 men. The Russians retired within 
the citadel, which is described as a mediaeval building, 
half fortress, half palace, which occupies the summit of 
the hill above the platform on which Bayazid stands. 
Provisions and water being scarce, the Russians, in a day or 
two, offered to surrender. Terms were agreed upon and 
half the garrison marched from their stronghold without 
arms, June 19th. Before the regular troops of Faik 
Pasha could take any measures for their protection, the 
Kurd horsemen fell upon the disarmed prisoners and 
massacred them to a man. The remainder of the garrison, 
of course, afraid to come forth, closed the gates of the 
stronghold and refused to entertain any proposition for 
carrying out the surrender, with what result we shall here- 
after see. The accounts of these events are very contra- 
dictory, and the whole truth may never be known. 

The first important battle of the Asiatic campaign took 
place June 16th, in the Pass of Tahir, south-east of Erze- 
rum, on the caravan road to Persia, against General 



428 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



Tergukassoff, with the Erivan Corps, advancing from 
Bayazid. The Russians succeeded in carrying, after a 
gallant resistance, the crest of a well-fortified ridge held by 
the Turks. The latter owed this disaster less to the death 
of their commander, Mohammed Pasha, who was killed by 
a Russian shell, than to the exhaustion of their ammunition. 
The battle was witnessed by General Sir Arnold Kemball, 
the British Military Commissioner in Armenia, and by 
his companion, Captain Charles Norman, correspondent of 
the London Times, both of whom had a narrow escape from 
capture by the Cossacks. 

This reverse did not seriously affect Muktar Pasha's 
plan of campaign, and, indeed, his loss did not exceed 300 
men. Not a gun was lost ; and before midnight the de- 
feated forces occupied a strong position at Delibaba, com- 
manding the mouth of the Tahir defile, so that not a Rus- 
sian could cross the mountain range by either of three 
routes without being mowed down by the Delibaba guns. 
Reis Ahmed Pasha was sent from Erzerum to take com- 
mand of the right wing, and Muktar made such vigorous 
efforts that in a few days he was quite prepared to meet on 
stronger ground the renewed assault of the Muscovites. 

During the first week in June he had been receiving re- 
inforcements at the rate of a thousand a day, and some 
much-needed batteries had come up from Erzerum; he 
was able, therefore, to send several battalions to Delibaba, 
with accompanying guns and a regiment of Kurd cavalry, 
to watch the fords of the Araxes. 

On the morning of June 22d, General Tergukassoff 's ad- 
vance guard debouched from the eastern spur of the 
Koseh Dagh, near the village of Eshek-Elias, or Helias, 
and his artillery began to play upon a hill-top in front of 
Muktar's position, which had been occupied as an advance 
post. The object of the Russians was evidently to secure 



RETREAT OF GENERAL TERGUKASSOFF. 429 

several hills on the north of the Bayazid road, which form 
the last buttresses of the mountain range towards the plain 
of the Araxes. Muktar Pasha, who commanded in per- 
son, had provided against this demonstration by placing 
behind the brow of these hills two battalions and two guns, 
and he now dispatched thither the Circassian General 
Moussa Pasha, with three battalions, under orders to hold 
the position at any cost. The Russians had meanwhile 
brought forward eight battalions of infantry, and increased 
their artillery to eighteen guns. Four regiments of Cos- 
sacks and four or five of regular cavalry were then 
sent forward against Muktar Pasha's centre, which they 
hoped to pierce, but the well-directed fire of six Krupps 
and nine mountain-guns was brought to bear with such 
deadly effect upon these mounted troops, that they, as well 
as two battalions of infantry who supported them, were 
compelled to retire, pursued by two battalions of Kurds 
and three regiments of Circassians. The attempt was soon 
renewed with very similar results. The Russians more 
than once actually encircled with their cavalry the Turkish 
centre, and made gallant but ineffectual efforts to retain 
the ground they occupied. The Turks brought into action 
sixteen battalions of infantry and some three thousand 
cavalry, who all acted strictly upcn the defensive, and did 
not even press the Russians, when, at 4 P. M., they were 
obliged to give way, abandoning their enterprise as hope- 
less. The Turkish loss was only 80 killed, but as many 
as 600 wounded. The Russian loss must have been more 
than double. 

For four days after the check experienced at Helias, or 
Delibaba, General Tergukassoff maintained his position in 
the Tahir defile, with the evident intention of again trying 
conclusions with the force before him. His instructions 
Were doubtless to force his way through the pass, and to 



430 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



rejoin the Russian centre, under Melikoff, in the plain of 
Hassan-Kaleh, east of Erzerum, towards the close of June. 
But meanwhile the Russian centre had experienced, as we 
shall see, a decisive check at Zevin, two days after the bat- 
tle of Helias, and on the 26th a demonstration was made 
upon the rear of TergukassofT's army by the column of 
Faik Pasha, previously mentioned. 

As soon as the Russian general learned of the presence 
of this new enemy in his rear, he precipitately retreated, 
starting at 5 P. M., on June 27th. Muktar Pasha, who 
was prepared for this movement, began the pursuit within 
an hour, and before midnight had traversed the defile, ten 
or twelve miles long, maintaining a running attack upon 
the enemy. On the following day, the Russians halted in 
the plain of Alashgerd, which extends from Topra-Kaleh, 
on the Eastern Euphrates to Bayazid and Ararat. They took 
their stand on the banks of the Euphrates, and maintained 
their position until afternoon, when a few shells thrown 
into the midst of the camp caused them to withdraw to 
Zadikhan. Next morning, June 29th, they continued their 
retreat, after partially destroying a large store of wheat 
and flour. Some eight hundred sacks of the latter were, 
however, rescued from the flames by the advancing Turks, 
and formed a very welcome addition to their not very 
varied commissariat department. The retreat of Tergu- 
kassoff was perhaps unwarranted from a military point of 
view, but it was skillfully conducted and cost only a score 
or two of lives. 

Muktar Pasha did not proceed beyond Zadikhan, but 
after appointing Ismail Hakki Pasha, the governor of Erze- 
rum, to the command of the forces left in the plain of Alash- 
gerd, to continue the pursuit, he returned to Zeviu, with 
the larger part of his right wing. During his absence, 
one of the most important battles of the war had been 



BATTLE OF ZEVIN. 



431 



fought around the intrenched camp which he had occupied 
for several weeks as his head-quarters. This camp occu- 
pied a loftly and isolated table-land, seven thousand feet 
high, between Khorassan and Bardes, dotted with several 
well-fortified heights. It covered or commanded three 
passes, and the brows of the table-land were seamed with 
rifle-pits, so wide that the men could fire comfortably while 
sitting. The position was indeed so strong that an attack 
upon it seemed the height of rashness, and can only be 
explained by the probable belief, on the part of MelikofT, 
that Muktar's expedition to the Pass of Tahir had nearly 
denuded it of defenders. This, however, was not the case, 
for reinforcements from Erzerum, and even from Syria, 
had been coming in so rapidly that when the attack was made 
the forces holding Zevin were as numerous as ever before. 
The nominal commander was the Kurdish governor of 
Erzerum, Ismail Hakki Pasha, but the real military head 
was the very capable old Hungarian, Faizy Pasha, chief 
of staff. His real name was Kohlmann, and he had dis- 
tinguished himself under General Williams, in the memor- 
able defense of Kars in 1855. 

Early in the morning of Monday, June 25th, General 
Heymann approached Zevin from the north and east by the 
Bardes and Meshingerd roads. On the former the Russians 
wound, for two miles, curving downward around the south- 
ern base of a lofty Soghanlu range, while on the latter, 
they coasted along the base of the same mountains. Faizy 
Pasha knew of their coming two hours before the heads of 
the two columns simultaneously appeared on the plain, 
but did not think it necessary to give the alarm, and as 
the Turkish scouts had retired, according to orders, with- 
out firing a sliot, the Russians doubtless expected to effect 
a surprise. They found out their mistake when, on enter- 
ing a wide, well-watered valley which bounds the table- 



432 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



land on the north-east, they were received with a per- 
fect storm of shot and shell which simultaneously opened 
upon them from the heights and from the rifle-pits con- 
cealed on the slopes. The Russians at last succeeded in 
gaining a broken ground, at the bottom of a ravine, and 
by slow degrees mounted terrace after terrace, until a frac- 
tion, amounting to not more than two battalions, gained 
the summit of the table-land. Meanwhile, a smaller 
column had encircled the table-land to the eastward, and 
a portion had even reached a ravine to the south, but in 
both places were checked by the Krupps and the mountain- 
guns at the southern angle of the camp and did not suc- 
ceed in gaining a footing on the slopes. Meanwhile, the 
main body, consisting of 11 or 12 infantry battalions, 
pushed upwards to the plateau, amidst the deadliest fire, 
were again and again pushed back from the summit, only 
to return to the charge with heroic determination. It was 
all in vain. No infantry on earth could conquer against 
such odds, while unsupported by artillery, which, from the 
nature of the ground, could only bombard the plateau from 
such a distance as to be harmless. The Russian cavalry 
were useless for a similar reason, and did not participate in 
the main action, being engaged in the useless enterprise of 
cutting the Turkish communications with Koprikoi and 
Khorassan in the rear of the intrenched camp. 

The perseverance of the Russians was admirable, they 
actually held their ground on the slopes long enough to 
throw up shelter trenches at two places. But after the 
original failure to surprise the camp, the attempt to storm 
it was hopeless, and, after a desperate fight, continued all 
day until an hour after sunset, they withdrew by the light 
of the full moon to the mountain road leading to Bardes. 
The second column had withdrawn at four o'clock, and 
the cavalry disappeared from the rear about the same time. 



THE ARMIES BEFORE KARS. 



433 



No pursuit was made. The Turks, fighting behind in- 
trenchments, lost above 500 men ; the Russians may be 
presumed to have lost nearly 2,000. The forces actually 
engaged were roughly estimated at 18,000 Russians against 
16,000 Turks. 

The nearly simultaneous disasters of Helias and Zevin 
were decisive against the success of the Russian campaign 
against Erzerum. The Bayazid Corps retreated two days 
later, as has been seen, and nothing was left for the army 
of the centre but to follow its example. This was done 
shortly afterwards, and when Muktar Pasha reached his 
old camp, on June 31st, he found no enemy in front. 
Hesitation was not one of the weaknesses of the Turkish 
commander, and he instantly determined to turn the tide 
of battle to the Russian frontier. On July 1st, he aban- 
doned Zevin, and, with 25,000 men, j^ushed forward towards 
Kars. On the 4th, he relieved that fortress from the iso- 
lation in which it had been kept for several weeks, but did 
not enter it with the main body of his army. The Rus- 
sians fell back to the vicinity of their own frontier, and 
Muktar Pasha, passing to the south of Kars, advanced a 
few miles to the eastward, where he established a camp of 
observation, within sight of the Russians and commanding 
the River Arpa, which forms the boundary between the 
two empires. The new position, which was destined to be 
the scene of the decisive battles of the Asiatic campaign, 
was a broad valley, so broad that it might almost be termed 
a plain, extending from the fortified heights around Kars, 
due east some thirty miles across the Arpa to Alexandro- 
pol, in Transcaucasia, the head-quarters of Russian opera- 
tions in Asia^ This great valley forms the natural high 
road from the north-east into Central Armenia, and it is 
this fact which gives to Kars its extraordinary importance 
in all struggles between Russia and Turkey in this region. 
28 



434 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Kars, itself, stands upon the south bank of the small river 
of the same name, here flowing to the north-east. A range 
of hills extends thence south-eastward about twenty miles 
to the River Arpa, and at the point of intersection are 
found considerable ruins of the great City of Ani, the 
capital of the Armenian kingdom in the sixth and suc- 
ceeding centuries. In front of this range of hills extends 
the broad valley, or plain, through which flows the Kars 
River, forming the arc of a circle, and falling into the Arpa 
a few miles north of Ani. The plain of Subatan or of 
Ani, as it is called indifferently, is dotted with isolated 
hills, the Great and Little Yagni, Kizil Tepe, Uch Tepe 
and others, whose names will soon come into military 
prominence, and between them the ground is intersected, 
at every conceivable angle, by deep though not wide 
ravines. The Aladja Dagh, which forms the southern 
limit of this future battle-ground, is a range of mountains 
rising, at one point, to 8,800 feet in height, while the lower 
edge is fringed with eminences which constitute so many 
almost impregnable defensive positions. From this edge, 
terrace-like slopes descend to the plain. In full view to 
the south-east, sixty miles away, across an intervening 
angle of Russian territory, is the grand cone of Ararat, 
white for thousands of feet with everlasting snow. 
Westward from Ararat stretches the range of mountains to 
which it belongs, called the Kach Geduk Dagh, and stretch- 
ing north is the Alaghez Dagh range, or "God's Mountain," 
rising, at one point, into a triple-peaked summit, from 
which it derives its name and which is only less beautiful 
than Ararat itself. 

On the slopes of the Aladja Dagh, Muktar Pasha 
chose his first encampment, which he fortified with extra- 
ordinary care, and patiently awaited the progress of events. 
Reinforcements, both of men and of artillery, now reached 



BELIEF OF BAYAZID. 



435 



him in considerable quantity, so that he was even able to 
decline the offer of some Syrian battalions as being more 
needed on the Danube. We shall leave him in the enjoy- 
ment of this excessive confidence, and return to the for- 
tunes of General Tergukassoff, whom we left on June 30th, 
in full retreat from the plain of Alashgerd. 

"The consequence of General Heymann's defeat, at 
Zevin," observes a correspondent, "was to render General 
TergukassofFs situation more critical than ever. More than 
3,000 Armenian families, to whom he had promised aid 
and protection in the name of the Emperer, followed his 
columns with all their domestic animals and movable house- 
hold goods. Such an incumbrance completely tied his 
hands. * * * * * 

"The very day after General Tergukassoff retreated 
from a place called Suleimania, five Christian villages near 
had been sacked and burned, and every living soul in them 
killed. Russian soldiers and officers found women and 
babes ripped up and their throats cut on the highway. 
From all that has been witnessed it is obvious that Turkish 
warfare is in no respect better than that of the Sioux 
Indians. What could the Russian General do in such per- 
plexity? He acted like a man of honor and conscience^ 
and, forming a rearguard with his brigade, conducted the 
Armenians, their animals and property, without losing a 
cart or a horse, and without giving the enemy an oppor- 
tunity of attacking him, across the Russian frontier. Then 
he occupied an excellent position near Igdyr, on the road 
to Erivan, about twenty miles distant from Bayazid, where 
he awaited reinforcements. After having received them he 
returned without losing a moment and attacked the be- 
siegers, July 14th. The struggle was short. The 22,000 
Kurds fled at once. The regular battalions resisted bravely, 
but were forced to retreat, leaving over a thousand men and 



436 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



three guns in the assailants' hands. The long-suffering 
detachment in the stronghold above the town were relieved, 
and, after passing a night in Bayazid, the Russians deliber- 
ately retired, taking with them their relieved comrades, 
their prisoners, captured guns, one of them of heavy cali- 
bre, and several families of the town who declared any 
exile preferable to further association with the mountain 
savages." 



CHAPTEE XIV. 



FIEST REPULSES AT PLEVNA. 

The original plan of the Bulgarian campaign, which 
was apparently to push forward to Adrianople, without 
stopping to dispose of the Turkish fortresses and armies 
on each side of the line of march, had received a severe 
blow by the failure of General Gourko's raid across the 
Balkans ; it was now to be checked for months by the opera- 
tions before Plevna. This insignificant Bulgarian town, 
the name of which had never before figured in the numer- 
ous Turkish wars, is situated about thirty miles south of Ni- 
copolis, on the right bank of the Biver Vid, and on the high 
road from Tirnova to Widdin. At the beginning of the 
present war, it had not been regarded as a strategical point 
by either the Bussian or the Turkish staffs, and its import- 
ance as the key to the whole campaign was not recognized 
until several months later. That it figured at all in the 
annals of the war is due to two accidents: to an unaccount- 
able neglect on the part of the Bussian staff to occupy it, 
and to the fact that a Turkish corps, which advanced from 
Widdin to the relief of Mcopolis, did not arrive in time 
to prevent that fortress from capture. 

The able commander at Widdin, Osman Pasha, had 
taken prompt measures for the relief of Mcopolis, and was 
marching thither with 20,000 men, when the news of its 
capture was received. Instead of turning back, he in- 
stantly resolved to fortify himself on the line of commu- 

437 



438 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



nication between Nicopolis and the Balkans, and thus pre- 
vent General Kriidener's advance. He was probably ac- 
quainted with the topography of the district ; at all events 
his selection of a position proved his great strategical 
genius. He turned to the southward and occupied Plevna. 
When General Krudener, leaving a small force at Nicopolis, 
began his march towards the Balkans, he sent forward a 
single infantry brigade, under General Schilder, to occupy 
Plevna. So careless had the Russians been of their scout- 
ing service, that they had no idea of the presence of a con- 
siderable army in front, and entered Plevna with little 
resistance and with the utmost nonchalance. They pro- 
ceeded to make themselves at home, laying aside their 
cloaks and packs in the streets, abandoned their formation 
in column and were straggling through the town, when 
suddenly they were attacked from every side by irresistible 
numbers, volleys were poured from windows and balconies, 
and they were forced to retreat in disorder, with a loss of 
nearly 3,000 men. 

Recognizing, too late, the value of the position they had 
failed to hold, the Russian generals received immediate 
orders to recover Plevna at all hazards. The remainder of 
the 9th Corps at Mcopolis was sent forward, and a por- 
tion of the 11th Corps, under Prince Schahofskoy, pre- 
viously destined for Shumla, and then at Osman Bazar, on 
the extreme left of the Russians, was dispatched thither, 
through the heart of Bulgaria, a distance of not less than 
a hundred miles. The loth Division of the 4th Corps, 
then crossing the Danube at Sistova, was added to the col- 
umn of attack, the whole being under the command of 
Baron Krudener, as the senior officer. 

Prince Schahofskoy effected his junction with Krudener, 
July 29th, at Poradim, a village a few miles due east of 
Plevna. On the preceding night, General SkobelefF, the 



FIRST ATTACK ON PLEVNA. 



439 



younger, had reached Schahofskoy's head-quarters, with 
instructions to take temporary command of a brigade of 
Circassian Cossacks and make a reconnoissance southwards 
towards Loftcha, and he returned on the evening of the 
29th, after a ride of fifty miles, with intelligence that Loft- 
cha was held by five battalions of Turkish infantry, and its 
vicinity patrolled by Circassians and Bashi-Bazouks. It 
was ascertained, however, that no more Turkish troops 
were marching from Plevna on Loftcha, and the apprehen- 
sions of a flank attack from that quarter were removed. 
Complete preparations for an attack were made during the 
night, but General Kriidener had wisely resolved to give his 
forces a day's rest after their severe marching. On the 
afternoon of the 30th, a council of war was held at Pora- 
dim, and final instructions were given to the generals, staff 
officers, colonels and adjutants for the attack of the mor- 
row, the history of which shall be in the brilliant narrative 
of Mr. Archibald Forbes, who will be our chief authority 
for the three great assaults upon Plevna : 

" It was settled that the action should begin next morn- 
ing at five o'clock by a general concentric advance on the 
Turkish positions in front of Plevna, and that Prince Scha- 
hofskoy and the general staff should move forward at four 
o'clock. Several aids of the Grand Duke Nicholas arrived, 
and were detailed to various points to make observations, 
and after the -battle to carry reports of the results back to 
Tirnova. The gravity of the task before the army was 
fully recognized, for reconnoissances had proved the Turks 
to be in greater force than was at first believed. Twenty 
thousand regulars had come from Widdin. The Turkish 
positions were known to be strong by nature, and strength- 
ened yet furtrier by art. 

" The night between the 30th and 31st was very wet, and 
troops did not begin to march forward before six instead 
of four. 



440 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



" The number of infantry combatants was actually about 
32,000, with 160 field cannon and three brigades of cav- 
alry. Baron Krudener was on the right with the whole 
of the 31st Division in his fighting line, and three regi- 
ments of the 5th Division in reserve at Karajac Bugarski. 
He was to attack in two columns, a brigade in each. On 
the left was Schahofskoy with a brigade of the 32d Divi- 
sion and a brigade of the 30th Division in fighting line. 
Another brigade of the 30th Division was in reserve at 
Pelisat. The Turkish position was convex, somewhat in 
horseshoe shape, but more pointed. Baron Krudener was 
to attack the Turkish left flank from Grivitza towards the 
River Vid. Schahofskoy was to assail their right from 
Radisovo, also towards the Biver Vid. On the left flank 
of the attack stood Skobeleff, with a brigade of Cossacks, 
a battalion of infantry and a battery, to cope with the 
Turkish troops on the line from Plevna to Loftcha, and to 
hinder them from interfering with the development of 
Schahofskoy's attack. On the right flank stood LascarefF, 
with a brigade of the 9th Cavalry to guard Krudener from 
a counter flank attack. 

" The morning was gloomy, which the Russians regarded 
as a favorable omen. The troops cheered vigorously as 
they passed the General. Physically there are no finer 
men in the world. In the pink of hard condition, and 
marching without packs, carrying only great-coat, haver- 
sack with rations, and ammunition, they seemed fit to go 
anywhere and do anything. Schahofskoy's right column 
marched over Pelisat and Sgalince. The left column 
headed straight for Badisovo. The artillery were pushed 
forward from the first, and worked independently. March- 
ing forward, we found the cavalry foreposts on the sky-line 
above Pelisat, and on the sloping downs infantry deployed 
as they advanced, as the Bussian practice is on open 



DESCRIPTION OF PLEVNA. 



441 



ground. The formation was in column of double com- 
panies, with rifle company in front of each battalion. 
The line and rifle companies have the same weapon, the 
Kranke. The rifle company is made up of marksmen 
whose rifles are sighted up to 1,200 yards, whereas the 
line is only to 600, the maximum fire-range of the Prus- 
sian infantry in the Franco-German war. Kriidener, on 
the right, opened the action at half-past nine, bringing a 
battery into fire from the ridge on the Turkish redoubt 
above the village of Grivitza. At first it seemed as if the 
Turks were surprised. It was some time ere they replied, 
but then they did so vigorously, and gave quite as good as 
they got from Kriidener. The objective of Prince Scha- 
hofskoy, with whom I rode, was in the first instance Badi- 
sovo, and it behooved us therefore to bear away to the left. 
But before doing so we were for a short time in a position 
which afforded a wonderful view of the theatre of action. 

" Plevna is in the hollow of a valley, lying north and 
south. The ground which intervened between us and this 
valley was singularly diversified. Imagine three great 
solid waves with their faces set edgeways to the valley of 
Plevna, and therefore end on to us also. The central wave 
is the widest of the three, and a cheval of it are the main 
Turkish positions, of which there seem three, one behind 
the other. Although the broadest wave, it is not the high- 
est. The right and left waves are both so high that one 
on the crest of either can look down across the intervening 
valleys into the positions of the central wave. But then 
the Turks are astride of all three waves. The crest of our 
wave, the ridge above Badisovo, they do not hold in force. 
Thus far we are fortunate ; but on the most northerly wave 
of the three, that against which Baron Kriidener is oper- 
ating, and which is broader and flatter than ours — more 
like a sloping plateau, if the expression is not a bull— the 



442 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Turks have intrenched position behind intrenched posi- 
tion. Both on top of this ridge and of the central swell 
we can discern camps of Turks with tents all standing 
behind the earthworks. It is clear they don't intend to 
move if they can help it. Their tents stand as if they had 
taken a lease of the ground in perpetuity. Baron Kriid- 
ener's cannon are in action, not only in front of Grivitza, 
which is the toe of the horseshoe, but against its northern 
flank also, but the return fire is so heavy that he makes no 
way, and for the time, at least, is fast held. We try to aid 
him from the crest of our ridge by bringing a battery into 
action against the Grivitza earthwork, but the traverse of 
the redoubt is so high that we do no harm. We of the 
left column have our own business to attend to, and so we 
leave our casual outlook j)lace among the plum-trees and 
move in the direction of Badisovo. 

" This village lies in a deep valley behind the southern 
wave or ridge of the Turkish position, and there is another 
ridge behind this valley. On that ridge our cannon, placed 
by Colonel Bischofsky, chief of Prince Schahofskoy's staff, 
w^ere firing in line on the Turkish guns on the ridge beyond 
the valley, with fine effect. The infantry went down into 
the valley under this covering fire, and I accompanied the 
column. We carried Badisovo with a trivial skirmish, for 
in the village there were only a handful of Bashi-Bazouks, 
who, standing their ground, were promptly bayoneted. 
The Bussian infantry remained under cover of the village. 
I returned up the slope to our batteries. These, firing with 
great rapidity and accuracy, soon compelled the Turkish 
cannon to quit the opposite height. During the last spurt 
of their firing, Prince Schahofskoy rode along the rear of 
our batteries, from the right to the left, under a fire which 
killed two horses in our little group. Our cannon playing 
on the Turkish guns on the opposite ridge quelled their 



THE BOMBARDMENT FROM RADISOVO. 



443 



fire after about half an hour's cannonade, and it was then 
practicable for our batteries to cross the valley, passing 
through Eadisovo, and come into action in the position 
vacated by the Turkish guns ; and following them our in- 
fantry also descended into the hollow, and lay down in the 
glades about the village, and on the steep slope behind our 
guns in action. 

" Presently we had five batteries ranged along the crest of 
the ridge beyond Eadisovo, directing a converging fire on 
the Turkish guns on the central wave or ridge beyond. 
Notwithstanding their exposed position, their fire was 
heavy and steady. The row of cannon in action reminded 
me of the German batteries on the crest of Verneville on 
the day of Gravelotte, only that the Germans had ninety 
cannon engaged and we had but forty, The staff awaited 
the result of the preparatory cannonade on the ridge 
behind Eadisovo. I went forward again and got up to 
where our batteries were in action, and there lay down. 
On the way I passed through Eadisovo, into which were 
falling many Turkish shells, which flew over the ridge 
occupied by our cannon. It w T as passing strange to witness 
peasant villagers standing in bewildered groups in front of 
their houses while shells were crashing into the place, while 
the children played unconcernedly about the dustheaps, 
and enjoyed themselves without misgiving as to danger. 
For once Bellona was gracious to non-combatants. Not a 
single villager was injured by the shell fire, although sev- 
eral hundred shells must have fallen in the village. From 
my point of vantage with our batteries I could look right 
down into the Turkish positions. Four batteries were de- 
fending the earthwork about the little village which seemed 
to me to be the foremost of their fixed and constructed 
positions on the central ridge. It stood on a little knoll, 
and was well placed for searching with its fire the valleys 



444 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



by which it could be approached. Beyond were more, and 
yet more, earthworks right to the edge of the broad valley, 
where the roofs and church-towers of Plevna sparkled in 
the sunshine from out a circle of verdure. The place 
had an aspect of serenity strangely contrasting with the 
turmoil of the cannon-fire raging in front of it. It seemed 
so near that a short ride would have brought me there to 
breakfast, yet, ere we could reach it, many men were to die. 
Men were dropping fast around me in the battery already, 
for the position of the guns was greatly exposed and the 
Turkish practice was mostly very good. 

" Until one o'clock, our infantry had nowhere been en- 
gaged. The operations hitherto were confined to the artil- 
lery. Kriidener on the right flank had scarcely progressed 
at all, and his co-operation in a simultaneously combined 
attack on both flanks was indispensible to success. Would 
that Schahofskoy had but acted on a full recognition of this 
fact, which the obvious strength of the Turkish positions 
should have impressed on him. Kriidener had gained much 
less ground than we. He seemed little farther forward than 
at the commencement, whereas we were at comparatively 
close quarters, and within striking distance. Kriidener 
was behind, either because his attack was not pushed ener- 
getically, or because he was encountering obstacles with 
which we had not met. Now Kriidener is regarded as a 
slow soldier and unenergetic man. We swore at what 
seemed his inertness, but it was not swearing only. Scha- 
hofskoy, in his impatience, determined to act independently, 
and strike the Turks single-handed. If Kriidener was 
slow, Schahofskoy was rash. If the whole force was too 
small for the work, how much more so was one-half that 
force? Fearful was the retribution exacted for that error 
of judgment. 

"About half past two the second period of the battle com- 



THE INFANTRY CHAEGE. 



445 



menced. To ascertain whether the artillery had sufficiently 
prepared the way for the infantry to act, Schahofskoy and 
his staff rode on to the ridge where our batteries were firing, 
and had to dismount precipitately under a hurricane of 
shell-fire which the Turkish gunners directed against the 
little group. A long and anxious inspection seemed to 
satisfy Schahofskoy and the chief of his staff, that the time 
had come when the infantry could strike with effect. This 
conclusion was arrived at in the face of the fact that we of 
the left, flank, had but three brigades all told, one of which 
constituted the reserve. In other words, we were about to 
launch ten or twelve thousand men against commanding 
intrenched positions held by an immensely superior force, 
and no whit crushed by our preliminary artillery fire. I 
will now quit criticism for narrative. 

"Two brigades of infantry were lying down in the Kadi- 
sovo Valley, behind the guns ; the 32d Division — General 
Tchekoff's brigade — on the right, the 1st Brigade of the 
30th Division on the left. The leading battalions were 
ordered to rise up and advance over the ridge to the attack. 
The order was hailed with glad cheers, for the infantry- 
men had been chafing at their inaction, and the battalions, 
with a swift, swinging step, streamed forward through the 
glen and up the steep slope beyond, marching in company 
columns, the rifle companies leading. The artillery had 
heralded this movement with increased rapidity of fire, 
which was maintained to cover and aid the infantrymen 
when the latter had crossed the crest and were descending 
the slope and crossing the intervening valley to the assault 
of the Turkish position. Just before reaching the crest 
the battalions deployed into line at the double, and crossed 
it in this formation, breaking to pass through the intervals 
between the guns. The Turkish shells whistled through 
them as they advanced in line, and men were already down 



446 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY, 



in numbers, but the long, undulating line tramps steadily 
over the stubbles of the ridge, and crashes through the 
undergrowth on the descent beyond. No skirmishing line 
is thrown out in advance. The fighting line remains the 
formation for a time, till, what with impatience and what 
with men falling, it breaks into a ragged spray of humanity, 
and surges on swiftly, loosely and with no close cohesion. 
The supports are close up, and run up into the fighting 
line independently and eagerly. It is a veritable chase of 
fighting men impelled by a burning desire to get forward 
and come to close quarters with the enemy firing at them 
there from behind the shelter of the epaulement. 

" Presently all along the face of the advancing infantrymen 
burst forth flaring volleys of musketry fire. The jagged 
line springs onward through the maize-fields, gradually 
assuming a concave shape. The Turkish position is neared. 
The roll of rifle fire is incessant, yet dominated by the 
fiercer and louder turmoil of the artillery above. The 
ammunition-wagons gallop up to the cannon with fresh 
fuel for the fire. The guns redouble the energy of their 
cannonade. The crackle of the musketry fire rises into a 
sharp, continuous peal. The clamor of the hurrahs of the 
fighting men comes back to us on the breeze, making the 
blood tingle with the excitement of the fray. A village is 
blazing on the left. The fell fury of the battle has 
entered on its maddest paroxysm. The supports that had 
remained behind, lying just under the crest of the slope, 
are pushed forward over the brow of the hill. The 
wounded begin to trickle back over the ridge. We can 
see the dead and the more severely wounded lying where 
they fall on the stubbles and amid the maize. The living 
wave of fighting men is pouring over them, ever on and on. 
The gallant gunners to the right and to the left of us stand 
to their work with a will on the shell-swept ridge. The 



A CEITICAL MOMENT. 



447 



Turkish cannon-fire begins to waver in that earthwork 
over against us. More supports stream down with a louder 
cheer into the Russian fighting line. Suddenly the discon- 
nected men are drawing together. We can discern the 
officers signaling for the concentration by the waving of 
their swords. The distance is about a hundred yards. 
There is a wild rush, headed by the colonel of one of the 
regiments of the 32d Division. The Turks in the shelter 
trench hold their ground, and fire steadily, and with ter- 
rible effect, into the advancing forces. The colonel's horse 
goes down, but the colonel is on his feet in a second, and, 
waving his sword, leads his men forward on foot. But only 
for a few paces. He staggers and falls. I heard after- 
wards he was killed. 

"We can hear the tempest-gust of wrath, half howl, half 
yell, with which his men, bayonets at the charge, rush on 
to avenge him. They are over the parapet and shelter 
trench, and in among the Turks like an avalanche. Not 
many Turks get a chance to run away from the gleaming 
bayonets swayed by muscular Russian arms. The outer 
edge of the first position is won. The Russians are bad 
skirmishers. They despise cover, and give and take fire 
out in the open. They disdained to utilize against the 
main position the cover afforded by the parapet of this 
shelter trench, but pushed on in broken order up the bare 
slope. In places they hung a little, for the infantry fire 
from the Turks was very deadly, and the slope was strewn 
with the fallen dead and wounded ; but for the most part 
they advanced nimbly enough. Yet it took them half an 
hour from the shelter trench before they again converged 
and made their final rush at the main earthwork. This 
time the Turks did not wait for the bayonet points, but 
with one final volley abandoned the work. We watched 
their huddled mass in the gardens and vineyards behind 



448 



THE RUSSIANS DEFEATED. 



coolly behind the bank of the vineyard that serves as a 
parapet to the prolongation. They ride off and speedily 
return, with an addition to the defending force. I can 
hardly say how it all happens, but all of a sudden the 
white smoke spurts forth all along the lip of the epaule- 
ment, and swarms of dark-clothed men are scrambling on 
to it. There is evidently a short but sharp struggle. 
Then one sees a swarm of men flying across the green 
stretch of the vineyard. But they don't go far, and prowl 
around the western and northern faces of the work, ren- 
dering its occupation very precarious. The Turkish can- 
non from behind drop shells into it with singular precision. 
As a matter of fact, the Russians carried, indeed, this the 
second position of the Turks, but never held it. It was 
all but empty for a long time, and continuous fighting took 
place about its flanks. About six, the Turks pressed for- 
ward a heavy mass of infantry for its recapture. Schahof- 
skoy took a bold step, sending two batteries down into the 
first position he had taken to keep them in check. But the 
Turks were not to be denied, and in spite of the most deter- 
mined fighting of the Russians, had reoccupied their second 
position before seven. 

" The 1st Brigade of the 30th Division had early in- 
clined to the left, in the direction where the towers and 
houses of Plevna were visible. It was rash, for the brigade 
was exposing its right flank to the Turkish cannon astride 
of the central ridge, but the goal of Plevna was a keen 
temptation. There was no thoroughfare, however. They 
would not give up, and they could not succeed. They 
charged again and again ; and when they could charge no 
more from sheer fatigue, they stood and died, for they 
would not retire. The reserves came up, but only to swell 
the slaughter. And then the ammunition failed, for the 
carts had been left far behind, and all hope failed the most 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



449 



sanguine, as the sun sank in lurid glory behind trie smoke- 
mantled field. 

" Two companies of Russian infantry did indeed work 
round the right flank of the Turkish works, and dodge 
into the town of Plevna; but is was like entering the 
mouth of hell. On the heights all round the cannon 
smoke spurted out, and the vineyard in the rear of the 
town was alive with Turks. They left after a very short 
visit, and now all hope of success anywhere was dead, nor 
did a chance offer to make the best of the defeat. 

" Schahofskoy had not a man left to cover the retreat. 
The Turks struck at us without stint. They had the upper 
hand for once, and were determined to show that they 
knew how to make the most of it. They advanced in 
swarms through the dusk on their original first position, 
and recaptured their three canon the Russians had pre- 
viously taken before these could be withdrawn. The 
Turkish shells began once more to whistle over the ridge 
above Radisovo and fall into the village behind, now 
crammed with wounded. The streams of wounded wending 
their painful way over the ridge were incessant. The 
badly wounded mostly lay where they fell. Later, in the 
darkness, a baleful sort of Krankentrager swarmed over the 
battle-field in the shape of Bashi-Bazouks, who smote and 
spared not. Lingering there on the ridge till the moon 
rose, the staff- could hear, from down below, on the still 
night air the cries of pain, the entreaties for mercy and 
the yells of bloodthirsty, fanatical triumph. It was indeed 
an hour to wring the sternest heart. We stayed there 
long to learn, if it might be, what troops were coming out 
of the Valley of the Shadow of Death below. Were there 
indeed any at all to come ? It did not seem as if it were 
so. The Turks had our range before dark, and we could 
watch the flash of flame over against us, and then listen to 



450 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



the position, cramming the narrow track between the trees 
to gain the shelter of their batteries in the rear of the 
second position. 

" So fell the first position of the Turks. Being a village, 
it afforded ample cover, and Schahofskoy would have acted 
wisely had he been content to hold it and strengthen it till 
Kriidener, on his right, should have carried the Grivitza 
earthwork, and come up in line with him. But the Grand 
Cross of St. George dangled before his eyes, and tempted 
him to rashness. Kriidener was clearly jammed. The 
Turks were fighting furiously, and were in unexpected 
force on that broad central riclge of theirs, as well as 
against Kriidener. The first position in natural as in arti- 
ficial strength was child's play to the grim starkness of the 
second on that isolated ma melon there with the batteries 
on the swell behind it. But Schahofskoy determined to 
go for it, and his troops were not the men to balk him. 
The word was again ' Forward ! ' The first rush, however, 
was out of them. Many must have been blown. The} r 
hung a good deal in the advance, exposing themselves 
recklessly, and falling fast, but not progressing with much 
speed. It is a dangerous time when troops sullenly 
stand still and doggedly fire when the stationary fit is on 
them. "Wyndham knew what it meant, and gnashed his 
teeth in rage over it when the fate of the Bedan hung in 
the balance which one rush would have turned for us. 

" Schahofskoy kept his finger well on the throbbing pulse 
of battle. Just in the nick of time half his reserve bri- 
gade was thrown into the fight immediately below us, while 
the other half took part in the attack more on our left 
flank. The new blood tells at once. There is a move for- 
ward, and no more standing and craning over the fence. 
The Turks on the flank in the earthwork are reinforced. 
I had noticed some Turkish officers on horseback, standing 



A DISASTROUS RETKEAT. 



451 



the scream of the shell as it tore by us. The whizzing of 
rifle bullets was incessant, and the escort and the retreat- 
ing wounded were often struck. A detachment of cavalry 
at length began to come straggling up to take over from 
the staff the forepost duty on the ridge, but it will give an 
idea of the disorganization to say that when a company 
was told off to cover somewhat the wounded in Radisovo, 
it had to be made up of the men of several regiments. 

"About nine o'clock the staff quitted the ridge, leaving 
it littered with groaning men, and moving gently lest we 
should tread on the prostrate wounded. We soon lost our 
way as we had lost our army. We could find no rest for 
the soles of our feet, by reason of the alarms of the Bashi- 
Bazouks swarming in among the scattered and retiring 
Russians. At length, at one in the morning, having been 
in the saddle since six on the previous morning, we turned 
into a stubble-field, and, making beds of the reaped grain, 
Commander, Correspondent and Cossack alike rested under 
the stars. But we were not even then allowed to rest. 
Before four, an alarm came that the Bashi-Bazouks were 
upon us, and we had to rouse and tramp away. The only 
protection of the chief of what in the morning was a fine 
army was now a handful of wearied Cossacks. About the 
Bashi-Bazouks there is worse to tell. At night they worked 
round into Radisovo, and, falling upon the wounded there, 
butchered them without mercy. 

" Krudener sent word in the morning that he had lost 
severely, and could make no headway, and had resolved 
to fall back on the line of the River Osma, which falls 
into the Danube near Nicopolis. There had been a talk, 
his troops being fresh, of renewing the attack to-day with 
his co-operation ; but it is a plain statement of fact that 
we have no troops to attack with. The most moderate 
estimate is that we have lost two regiments — say 5,000 



452 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



men — out of our three brigades ; a ghastly number, beat- 
ing Eylau or Friedland. This takes no account of Krii- 
dener's losses. We, too, are to retire on the Osma River, 
about Bulgareni, and, to the best of our weak strength, 
cover the bridge at Sistova. 

, "One cannot, in this moment of hurried confusion, realize 
all the possible results of this stroke, so rashly courted. 
Not a Russian soldier stands between Tirnova and 
the victorious Turkish Army in Loftcha and Plevna. 
Only a weak division of the 11th Corps stands between 
Tirnova and the Shumla Army. I look on Schahofskoy's 
force as wrecked, as no longer for these many days to be 
counted for a fighting integer. It is not ten days since the 
30th Division crossed the Danube in the pride of superb 
condition. Now what of it is left is demoralized and shat- 
tered. So on this side of the Balkans — the 8th Corps 
being already committed to the mountains — there virtually 
remain but the 9th Corps, already roughly handled, once 
at Nicopolis and again previously at Plevna, one division 
of the 11th Corps and the Rustchuk Army. Now if the 
Rustchuk Army is marched to the west against Plevna, 
then the Turkish Army of Rustchuk is let loose on the 
Russian communications to Tirnova. One cannot avoid 
the conclusion that the advance over the Balkans is 
seriously compromised. The Russian strait is so bad that 
the scattered detachments have been called up from out 
Roumania, and a Roumanian division, commanded by 
General Manu, which crossed a day or two ago at Nicop- 
olis, has been called up to the line of the Osma River. 

"An aide-de-camp of the Grand Duke Nicholas was 
present at the battle, and at once started for Tirnova with 
the evil tidings. We are just quitting this bivouac and 
falling back on Bulgareni with all speed, leaving the Bul- 
garian villages to the tender mercies of the Turks. As I 



MASSACRE OF WOUNDED RUSSIANS. 



453 



close I learn that on our left General Skobeleff was very 
severely handled, having lost 300 men out of his single 
infantry battalion. " 

Riding to Bucharest the night of the battle, Mr. Forbes 
telegraphed to London the whole of the preceding letter, 
which appeared in the Daily News of August 3d, thus ac- 
complishing the greatest journalistic exploit of the 
century. The following letter, dated at Bucharest, August 
2d, describes the state of the defeated Russians the night 
after the battle : 

" It was the evening of the battle of Plevna. The sun 
was going down behind the smoke-mantled heights, in a 
glow of lurid crimson. The dusk was fast settling on one 
of the bloodiest battle-fields of the century — closing in 
round the batteries whose guns were still firing, round de- 
tached parties of Russian soldiers who were doggedly main- 
taining the fight against the swarms of Turks who formed 
a ring around them, firing fiercely into their midst — round 
the dead and the wounded lying thick on the stubbles, on 
the grassy slopes, in the hollows among the maize plants 
and the oak copses — round the knots of wounded who had 
crawled for cover to the lee-side of the grain stacks on the 
fields, and who lay there in the unspeakable agony of 
waiting for the inevitable doom which they knew too well 
was to befall them — round the groups of miscreants tramp- 
ing about the battle-field intent on wreaking that doom 
on the defenceless wounded, and stopping ever and anon 
to perpetrate some barbarity. Prince Schahofskoy and his 
staff stood on the summit of the ridge above the village of 
Radisovo, which was crammed with wounded men. The 
fate of the battle had hung in the scale for some time, but 
now all hope of success had gone. There was no reserve 
among us in the acknowledgment that the attack had been 



454 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



a failure; all the concern now was to do what was possible 
towards minimizing the results of that failure. There was 
no conversation; men's hearts were too heavy for talk. 
We sat about on the knoll, gazing down into the pande- 
monium below. The General, alone and apart, paced up 
and down a little open space in the oak copse, gloom set- 
tled on his face. All around us the air was heavy with the 
low moaning of the wounded, who, having limped or been 
aided thus far out of the fight, had cast themselves down 
to gain a little relief from the agony of motion. There 
was not even water for them, for Radisovo is all but a 
waterless village, and what water trickled in a tiny rill from 
the fountain behind the village was struggled for eagerly 
by the parched and fevered wounded who crowded around 
it, coveting with a longing, the agony of which the reader 
can never know, a few drops of the precious fluid. I can- 
not tell when I most respect and admire the simple, honest 
Russian soldier — whether when he is plodding along with- 
out a murmur verst after verst, under a burden just double 
in weight that which our soldiers carry, cheering the way 
as he tramps with a lusty chorus ; or when, with cheers 
that ring with sincerity, and with an alacrity which is genu- 
ine, he presses forward into the battle; or when he is stand- 
ing stubbornly confronting his enemy, conscious of being 
overmatched, yet never dreaming of running away; or 
when he is lying wounded, but uncomplaining, helping his 
neighbor in the same plight with some trifling act of tender 
kindness, and waiting for what God and the Czar shall 
send him, with a patient, unmurmuring calm that is surely 
true heroism. 

"The darkness closed in around us, and the enemy 
seemed bent on following the example of the darkness. 
We had been on this ridge for a long time beyond the 
range of the enemy's batteries ; but now these were ad- 



A TEKRIBLE NIGHT SCENE. 



455 



vanced, and we were once more under fire. Through the 
darkness we could see the flashes of the cannon shots ; they 
must be back now in the position on the knoll below — the 
position where four hours ago the Russian soldiers had 
charged home with the bayonet, and whence two hours 
ago the Russian cannon had been firing. A second more, 
and nearer and nearer came the whistle of the shells, with 
a swiftly gradual crescendo into a scream as they sped over 
us and crashed down into the village in the valley behind 
us ; and yet nearer there was the flashing of the musketry 
fire in the darkness ; one could watch the streaks of flame 
foreshortened down in the valley there, and nerves tried by 
a long day of foodlessness, excitement, fatigue and ex- 
posure to sun and the chances of the battle-field, quivered 
under the prolonged tension of endurance, as the throb- 
bing hum of the bullet sped through or over the strag- 
gling group. No man dared to say to that stern, lowering 
chief, eating his heart there in the bitterness of his disap- 
pointment, that it was a bootless tempting of fortune to 
linger longer on this exposed spot, nor did any man care 
to quit, for the sake of greater safety, the companionship 
which had endured throughout the day. So we lingered 
on till our senses became dulled, until some dropped off 
into slumber, regardless of the scream of the shells and 
the hum of the bullets. It was a humane object which 
so long detained the General in a position so exposed. 
There was no force available to line the height and cover 
to ever so little extent the wounded lying on and behind 
it from the Bashi-Bazouks, who too certainly were prowl- 
ing in the vicinity, and ever coming nearer and nearer. 
An attempt had, indeed, been made to get together a de- 
tachment of infantry for this purpose, and a bugler, at the 
General's order, persistently sounded the assembly, but the 
result was merely to gather a handful of stragglers from 



456 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY: 



half a dozen different regiments ; and although but a com- 
pany was wanted, that trivial strength could not be col- 
lected, so the General, his staff and his escort took up for 
the time a kind of informal forepost duty, and there we 
waited till the pale, calm moon rose and poured the sheen 
of her white radiance over the battle-field. While it was 
yet dark there had been no cessation of the firing, both 
artillery and musketry, and now that heaven was holding 
a candle to hell, the fire waxed warmer and brisker. Up 
from out of it, with broken tramj), came a detachment, 
silent, jaded, powder-grimed. There could not have been 
a company all told ; a lieutenant marched at its head, and 
it was the remnant, so far as could be gathered the sole 
remnant, of one of the finest regiments of the 32d Divi- 
sion, that had crossed the ridge over which its debris was 
now listlessly trailing itself three fine battalions strong. 

"At length the jingle of cavalry accoutrements was 
heard, and a squadron of dragoons rode on to the heights, 
and extending in skirmishing order relieved the head- 
quarter staff. It was a poor screen to interpose between a 
victorious and remorseless army and a mass of wounded 
men ; but nothing more was available. The General had 
lost an army, the fragments of an army had lost their 
General. We turned the heads of our jaded horses, and, 
silent and depressed, rode down the slope across the valley 
and up the slope beyond. But on me fell the burden of a 
personal anxiety. I had missed my young friend Villiers, 
the artist of the Graphic. He had been with me till 
darkness on the ridge. Sorely fatigued, he had expressed 
a desire to go away. I had advised him to get on the slope 
behind the ridge, and to take some rest. But when we 
rode away I could nowhere find him. I quartered the 
slope carefully and shouted his name aloud, but without 
result. Recumbent men by the dozen I looked into the 



AN ARTIST MISSING. 



457 



faces of by the moonlight, but they were all wounded 
soldiers. At length a Russian told me he had met Vil- 
liers some time ago in the bottom of the valley, when he 
had said he meant to go into Radisovo and try to be of 
some use among the wounded. Then he was with the 
doctors, and, as I trusted, would take no harm, although 
occasional shells were still falling in Radisovo. So, trying 
not to think about him, I rode on with the staff. Our pace 
was a slow walk, for there were wounded men everywhere, 
limping along the narrow pathway in front of us, pros- 
trate on the grass by the side of it, or asleep in the very 
dust. Occasionally we struck detachments of infantry who 
had scrambled back out of the fight, and were lying on 
their arms in utter ignorance of the best direction in which 
to march. Or it might be a battery of artillery, halted in 
perplexing dubiety whether if they went on they might 
march into the bosom of the Turkish Army. I believe 
there existed some intention that we should go for the 
night to a village called Bogot. But we got confused as to 
the road, and bewildered by the crackling spurts of mus- 
ketry fire that broke out all around in the most uncomfort- 
able fashion. Were the Turks then wholly round us, that 
we heard, and occasionally felt, fire as it seemed to north, 
to south, to east, and to west? Once such was the con- 
fusion that we were fired upon by a detachment of Rus- 
sian troops, halted in equal bewilderment with ourselves, 
and expecting an enemy from any or every side. We 
made halt after halt, but there never was rest for us. A 
spurt of near firing would stir us, or a Cossack would ride 
in with intelligence that the Bashi-Bazouks were prowling 
near by, and through all this harassment there yet lingered 
with the most sanguine of us the idea that the battle would 
be resumed next morning, we affording an artillery sup- 
port to the supposedly fresh troops of Kriidener Where, 



458 



THE COXQUEST OF TURKEY. 



I asked myself, is our artillery to take orders for such a 
purpose? We did not know where we were ourselves, 
much less where the army was, of which this groping, 
forlorn, dejected band were the head-quarters. Of Kru- 
dener's experiences or whereabouts we knew simply nothing. 
It was useless to dispatch aides-de-camp or orderlies with- 
out being able to give them a direction in which to ride. 
All we knew was that ever there were wounded men about 
us, and that we and our horses were dead beaten. 

" Nature will assert herself. About one o'clock in the 
morning, we turned aside into a field where the barley 
had been reaped and piled into small stacks. These we 
tore down, shook some sheaves out as fodder for our 
horses, and others as beds for ourselves, and, throwing 
ourselves down, fell into dead slumber. But there was no 
long rest for us. At three o'clock, we were aroused by 
the tidings that the Bashi-Bazouks were close to us, and 
the near firing told of the accuracy of the statement. We 
huddled a number of wounded into and upon some carts 
which came up casually, and started them off, whether in 
the right direction, or not, we had no conception. Ugh, 
how miserably raw and chill struck the bleak morn just 
before the dawn ! But if the rawness of the air struck to 
our marrow, hale and sound men as we were, what must 
have been the sufferings of the poor wounded, weakened by 
loss of blood, faint in the prostration which follows, so in- 
evitably, the gunshot wound ; foodless, without water, lying 
on the damp grass by the wayside in their blood-clotted 
clothes! Yet happy were they, pitiable as was their 
plight, in comparison with their fellows who had littered 
the battle-field, and had been left behind in Eadisovo. 
The fate of the former we knew from what we had our- 
selves seen ; of the latter, it was told to us by scared mes- 
sengers that the Bashi-Bazouks had, in the dead of night, 



ATEO CITIES OF BASHI-BAZOUKS. 



459 



worked round our left flank, and had fallen upon them and 
butchered them in their helplessness. The horror of the 
news thrilled us all, but the tidings had for me a special 
agony of apprehension. For it was to join these wounded 
that Villiers was on his way when last seen, and there fell 
upon me the terrible fear that he had been with them when 
they met their cruel fate. I dared not follow out the rea- 
soning; I recoiled from that with unutterable horror, and 
yet I groped around the edges of the fearful problem to 
which I was tethered, and could find no escape. I thought 
of the quiet London home, under whose roof-tree I had 
sat and listened to a mother talk with joy and pride of an 
only son, of whose safety she professed to feel assured while 
he was with me, and there rose before me the ghastly hor- 
ror of the terrible duty that must devolve upon me, to 
plunge that home into an abyss of unspeakable woe. There 
remained but one hope. We had trysted to meet at the 
Poradim bivouac, should chance separate us. I spent the 
morning riding about inquiring of every one I met if my 
friend had been seen ; the reply was ever in the negative. 
I reached Poradim to find the head-quarters camp struck 
and withdrawn, and only a few lagging stragglers on the 
broad common. I waited there long in vain ; at length 
the sense of another personal duty asserted itself, and with 
hope all but quenched in my heart, I turned my horse's 
head and rode away to Sistova. Traveling thence to Bu- 
charest, I was the bearer of the bitter news to the little 
English coterie in the Roumanian capital, and there was 
cast upon it the shadow of a great sorrow, for Villiers had 
lived there some weeks before we crossed the Danube to- 
gether, and to know him was to love him. On the evening 
of the day of my arrival some of us were sitting in sad 
conclave, trying to hope against hope, when the lad walked 
in among us safe and sound. He had not gone into Badi- 



460 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



sovo, having met outside it a convoy of wounded on the 
march, which he had accompanied, and, after a night of 
vicissitude, had followed my example, and struck for Sis- 
tova, and so on to Bucharest. I leave to the reader to 
imagine our joy and relief." 



CHAPTEK XV. 



THE RUSSIAN DEADLOCK IN BULGARIA. 

The reverse of July 31st seemed to strike the whole 
Russian Army in Europe with paralysis, which continued 
throughout the month of August. The intention to press 
forward to Adrianople had, of course, to be abandoned, 
since the Russians needed every man and every gun north 
of the Balkans. That effective support which alone could 
have made General Gourko's expedition a success being 
withheld, his enterprise terminated, as we have seen, in 
disastrous failure, redeemed only by the brilliancy of de- 
sign and execution. The most deplorable consequence was 
the necessary abandonment of the Bulgarians south of the 
Balkans, who had welcomed the Russians as deliverers and 
taken up arms in their service, to the tender mercies of the 
Turk, which were visible in the smoke of burning villages 
and audible in the groans of thousands of helpless refu- 
gees whose relatives had been massacred. But of this else- 
where. 

There now ensued a period of pause and of reflection, in 
which the whole Russian Army, from the Emperor to the 
humblest dragoon, anxiously inquired the causes of the late 
reverse and weighed the probabilities of the near future. 
It was universally recognized that great blunders had been 
committed, and Special Correspondents were not at all 
backward in attempting to fix it where it belonged, even at 
the expense of great reputations. Nay, it was intimated in 

461 



462 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



no very guarded phrase, that the chief responsibility lay 
with the Commander-in-Chief and his highest staff officers, 
and, ultimately, with the Emperor himself, for maintaining 
in command men who were ignorant of the changed con- 
ditions of modern warfare, and sent thousands of men to a 
useless death as lightly as they would direct the evolutions 
of a grand parade on the Nevskoi Prospect. There was, un- 
doubtedly, much of truth in these criticisms, but the whole 
truth was too overwhelming to be at once comprehended, 
and half-measures were accordingly resorted to. Other 
terrible reverses had to be experienced at Plevna before the 
incompetence of the Head-Quarters Staff could be fully 
recognized and those new men and new measures be se- 
lected which eventually resulted in victory. 

The first unquestionable result of the reverse at Plevna 
was the necessity of renouncing the expectation of closing 
the war in a single season. Either a toilsome winter cam- 
paign or the prolongation of the war through another 
year had now become inevitable. Reinforcements, numer- 
ous and prompt, were now of the first importance, and this 
the Emperor promptly recognized by calling to the front, 
among others, the famous corps of the Imperial Guards. 

In a notable review of " the Eussian mistakes," Mr. 
MacGahan points out that the first was the advance of 
General Gourko beyond Kezanlik, with a force utterly 
inadequate to maintain itself. It was alleged that this 
movement had been made by General Gourko on his own 
responsibility, in the expectation of being immediately fol- 
lowed by at least an army corps, and as it was made before 
the battle of Plevna, it was, on the whole, excusable. The 
second mistake, one for which Gourko was not responsible, 
and which he could not have foreseen, was the neglect to 
occupy Plevna and Loftcha immediately upon advancing 
to Tirnova, a blunder, as Mr. MacGahan tersely remarks, 



THE RUSSIAN MISTAKES. 



463 



" the like of which can only be found in the early stages 
of the American civil war, when armies were commanded 
by lawyers, doctors, merchants and politicians." 

The neglect to send out cavalry reconnoissances was a 
third mistake still more incomprehensible. That a small 
army should advance in an enemy's country, in the vicinity 
of overwhelming forces, without taking the trouble to ascer- 
tain their whereabouts, is, indeed, an imbecility which sm> 
passes belief, and defies explanation. The necessity of 
occupying such places as Plevna and Loftcha was so evi- 
dent that no military critic would have thought of asking 
whether it had been done, yet its neglect had entailed what 
might well have proved the total failure of the war. The 
chief of staff, General Nepokoitchitsky, had, indeed, directed 
the occupation of Plevna, by General Kriidener, as soon as 
he crossed the river, but General Levitsky, the assistant 
chief of staff, neglected to enforce the order, and Krii- 
dener, occupied with the movement on Nicopolis, failed to 
execute what he regarded as an unimportant detail. But his 
blundering was not confined to the neglect to seize Plevna 
in time. Even after the first repulse of July 19th, and 
while reinforcements were awaited, Kriidener neglected to 
occupy Loftcha, a position near the great Sofia road, inter- 
mediate between Plevna and the Balkans, and almost in- 
dispensable as a base for a successful attack on Plevna, as 
its possession would enable the Russians both to turn the 
Turkish positions on the south, and to cut off their main 
line of retreat. The excuse for the blunder at Plevna, 
namely, that the Russians were victims of a surprise, will 
not hold good for the blunder respecting Loftcha, since it 
was not seized, by Osman Pasha until July 28th. 

Another serious blunder of the Russians was their neg- 
lect to perfect their means of communication. They left 
the Bulgarian roads and bridges as they found them, that 



464 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



is, almost impassable. They also committed tlie great mis- 
take of attempting too much, with inadequate resources. 
After they had once embarked in the fatal enterprise of 
Plevna, they should have concentrated their strength upon 
a single point, instead of frittering it away upon two simul- 
taneous assaults miles apart, and each with insufficient 
force. They should have immediately concentrated the 
whole available force in Bulgaria upon Plevna, so as to 
carry that place by main force, instead of wasting months 
in waiting for reinforcements from Russia. And, finally, 
they should have taken into account the great change 
effected in modern warfare by the introduction of breach- 
loaders, as has been pointed out by Mr. MacGahan. 

" One most important fact has been made manifest by 
the battle of Plevna, of which the Russians must take 
account in the future ; that is, the advantage given by 
modern firearms to raw, undisciplined troops fighting in 
intrenchments on the defensive. In former days, when 
only two or three rounds could be fired against a bayonet 
charge, regular soldiers had an immense advantage over 
raw, undisciplined troops fighting in even the strongest 
positions. The rapidity of modern firearms, and the steady 
shower of bullets that even the rawest troops can pour 
against a bayonet charge or an assault, put them nearly on 
an equality with veterans, as long as they can fight from 
behind breastworks. This is a fact which the Russians 
left altogether out of account when they threw their masses 
against the Turkish intrenchments. If the Russians attack 
the intrenchments of Plevna in the way they did before, 
they are sure to be beaten. With modern firearms, a sim- 
ple mob, individually brave men, without discipline and 
without organization, with moderately good marksmen, can 
hold intrenchments against even superior numbers of the 
best troops in the world, as long as they are only attacked 



EFFECTS OF BREECH-LOADERS. 



465 



in front. The thing has been done more than once, even 
with old-fashioned muzzle-loaders ; and the Turks have 
shown at Plevna how easily it can be done with breech- 
loaders. And it stands to reason. 

" The knowledge that he can reload his piece, even after 
his enemy is within twenty paces, will give the rawest 
recruit a steadiness that can be obtained in no other way, 
and he is in a very different moral condition from the man 
who has discharged his weapon and knows he cannot reload 
it again before the cold steel will be into him. Then he 
has other advantages. His enemy arrives, if he arrives at 
all, with thinned ranks, the men out of breath after a run 
of half a mile or perhaps a mile, or a climb up a steep 
ascent. They cannot fire with the least accuracy running, 
and even if they stop to fire their hearts are beating with 
the violence of their exertions, and their hands are un- 
steady. They are in a very different condition from men 
posted in trenches with steady eyes and hands, and a rest 
before them upon which to take deliberate aim at an ad- 
vancing foe. In my opinion, the whole system of attack 
upon even the simplest trenches will have to be completely 
changed in the future. Assaults, properly speaking, will 
have to be abandoned. Where such positions cannot be 
turned, then the attack must have recourse to the same 
means as the defense. Earth will have to fight earth. 
The attack will have to approach keeping as much under 
cover as the defense. They will have to take advantage of 
every shelter offered by the nature of the ground, and 
where the ground does not offer shelter, then shelter must 
be artificially created. The attack will likewise have to 
dig trenches — narrow, shallow ones — a foot or eighteen 
inches deep, along which they can crawl, and they must 
keep up a fire as incessant and well-directed as that of the 
defense. Strategically, they must be working on the offen- 
30 



466 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



sive, tactically on the defensive; and not till they have 
arrived within a few yards of the enemy's trenches, should 
they think of trying the bayonet. Their progress must 
necessarily be slow, but it will be sure, and the loss of life 
will be moderate. The Russians, for instance, instead of 
trying to take Plevna in a single day, as they did before, 
if they find they cannot turn the Turkish intrenchments, 
should devote at least a week to it, working gradually up 
to each position, under cover, day after day, until the last 
is carried, or abandoned, as would be most likely, by its de- 
fenders. 

" In my opinion, this is the only way trenches defended 
by steady troops — and there are none steadier in trenches 
than the Turks — can be taken without a loss of life so 
great as to very soon destroy an army. For be it remem- 
bered that artillery is practically powerless to dislodge 
troops from these deep, narrow trenches, even at the dis- 
tance of a mile, which is as close as artillery dare aj)proach 
without having the gunners picked off as fast as they 
appear ; for unless the shells fall exactly in the trench they 
hurt nobody, and even then a shell will not hurt more 
than one man, or at the most two. The difficulty of hitting 
a trench fifteen inches wide, which in perspective is, at the 
distance of a mile, almost of less than an inch, may easily 
be imagined. 

"The fact is, that the effect of modern artillery and 
its value have been greatly overestimated. The moral 
effect of shell-fire upon raw troops is, of course, very great, 
but its material effect is very slight, and upon good troops 
its moral effect is, of course, nearly lost. A shell travers- 
ing a thin line of infantry may carry away a man or it 
may not, but it is rarely that the harm done is greater than 
that caused by a bullet. A shell exploding in soft ground 
never does any harm unless it happens to strike somebody 



MODERN ARTILLERY. 



467 



before exploding. The French, in the late war with Ger- 
many, made a great deal of the fact that German artillery 
was so much superior to theirs that they were under the 
shell-fire of the enemy long before their artillery could 
reply, and yet of the losses sustained by the French in this 
war it has been found that not more than five per cent, 
were inflicted by the Prussian artillery, with all its boasted 
superiority. In my opinion, in the wars of NapoleoR 
artillery was a far more effective arm on the field of battle 
than modern artillery with all its improvements. When 
fifty pieces of cannon, massed into line, belched forth a 
storm of grape and canister into the enemy's ranks at the 
distance of five hundred yards, the effect must have been 
very different from that of shells fired at the distance of 
two or three miles, and smothering themselves in the soft 
ground without doing anybody any harm. 

"The improvement in small arms has rendered the old- 
fashioned artillery quite out of the question, just as it has 
made cavalry, as cavalry, nearly useless, except for outposts 
and scouting duty, and rendered bayonet and cavalry 
charges impossible ; but our highly-improved modem ar- 
tillery does not adequately replace the old-fashioned cannon 
beloved of Napoleon. At any rate, the next battle of 
Plevna will not be decided by artillery. Both Turks and 
Russians have shown how little they care for shell-fire, and 
besides, the Russians, it seems, can bring very few pieces to 
bear, owing to the peculiarity of the ground, while the 
Turks have not shown themselves to be very skillful in 
the management of their artillery. The battle will be 
fought almost entirely with the bullet, and it will be one of 
the most terrible, if not the most terrible, of the century. 
The Turks will fight with all the desperation given by 
the knowledge that they are really defending the passage 
of the Balkans, and that if completely victorious here they 



468 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



will have brought the campaign to a successful conclusion. 
The Russians will fight, animated by a knowledge of the 
same facts, all the bitterness of defeat and the desire for 
vengeance upon the barbarians who mutilate prisoners, 
wounded and dead alike." 

The actual operations of the forces before Plevna during 
the first weeks of August, were not of great importance. 
That " stormy petrel" of warfare, General SkobelefT, un- 
dismayed by reverses, was anxious to do something to re- 
store confidence to his troops, and would willingly have 
undertaken the capture of Loftcha, but could only obtain 
permission to make a reconnoissance in that direction. 
He left the Grand Duke's head-quarters, August 4th, with 
five battalions of infantry, his own brigade of cavalry and 
two batteries of artillery, and proceeded to the Selvi road, 
east of Loftcha. With his right wing, consisting of cav- 
alry, he, on the 6th, occupied several villages encircling 
Loftcha, to the northward, while he pushed forward his in- 
fantry, advanced his artillery along the Selvi road to the 
heights overlooking the town, at a distance of a mile, and 
opened fire with sixteen guns. The town was held by from 
fifteen to twenty thousand Turks, and the low hills around 
were strongly intrenched. Two hills, one on the Plevna 
road, the other on the Selvi road, were strongly manned 
with artillery, which replied with vigor to the Russian fire. 
Skobeleff's infantry went down into the hollow between 
the hills, occupied by the artillery of the hostile forces, 
protected by the woods from a heavy fire, and manifested 
a desire to assault the Turkish intrenchments at the base 
of the opposite hill, whence was poured a deadly storm of 
rifle-fire. It would have been madness to make such an 
assault, as the Turks were three times as numerous as the 
Russian infantry. Skobeleff galloped down into the val- 
ley with a squad of six Cossacks, in full view of the Turks 



SKOBELEFF BEFORE LOFTCHA. 



469 



and within easy range of their sharpshooters. He was 
mounted on a white Arabian horse which he had brought 
from Khokand, and wore a white coat, thus attracting the 
enemy's fire. It was with difficulty that Skobeleff could 
restrain his infantry from charging the Turkish intrench- 
ments. His famous Arabian horse received a bullet, but 
he mounted another horse and galloped forward again to 
the base of the hill, shouting to his skirmishers to fall 
back, while his trumpeter vigorously sounded a retreat. 
Then Skobeleff was seen to go down along with his horse, 
amidst the rain of Turkish bullets, but he seemed to bear 
a charmed life, and it was only the horse that was killed. 
Mounting a third horse, he trotted up the road as fresh as 
ever, this time bringing back his infantry. He had ac- 
complished his object and was thoroughly informed of the 
nature of the defenses of Loftcha. He withdrew in good 
order, and encamped two miles in the rear, in an exposed 
position, with the intention of tempting the Turks to at- 
tack him, but they could only be induced to send out re- 
connoitering parties and, on the 7th, Skobeleff returned to 
head-quarters. 

Schahofskoy and Kriidener preserved their intrenched 
positions in front of Plevna, and a part of Prince Mirsky's 
division was stationed on the road from Tirnova to Loftcha 
to oppose any Turkish advance eastward. A defensive 
attitude was preserved by the army of the Czarewitch 
holding the line from Sistova to the Shipka Pass, through 
Tirnova, the head-quarters of the Czarewitch being at 
Kaceljevo, on the River Lorn, fronting Easgrad. The 
Army of Pustchuk lay inactive on the lower Lorn, its 
effective troops being needed before Plevna and its siege 
cannon not being yet ready. General Zimmerman was 
equally inactive in the southern Dobrudscha, on the line of 
Trajan's Wall, from Tchernavoda to Kustendji. The 



470 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Grand Duke Nicholas had his head-quarters at Bulgareni, 
east of Plevna, in the rear of the intrenched positions of 
Schahofskoy and Krtidener. The Turks were actively en- 
gaged in strengthening Osman's army in Plevna, their 
lines of communications being unassailed, and that able 
commander was incessantly strengthening his defensive 
works, so that the next Russian attack would find no con- 
temptible fortress in front. The Emperor remained with 
the head-quarters of the general staff at Biela. The army 
now began to suffer in health from irregular rations, heat 
and the neglect of sanitary precautions. Dead horses and 
oxen were never buried, and the air soon became tainted 
thick and heavy with filth and rotten offal. General Ig- 
natieff and Prince Galatzin were prostrated with gastric 
fever, and most of the personal attendants of the Emperor 
were sick with various complaints. Alexander, himself, 
with greater cause for anxiety than any of his staff, pre- 
served his health and his equanimity, and labored to infuse 
his own cheerfulness into his subordinates. 

Had Osman Pasha taken the offensive in the first flush 
of his splendid success of July 31st, or at any time during 
the ensuing fortnight of despondency for the Russians, it 
is hardly doubtful that he might have driven before him 
the broken remnants of the attacking forces, cut the line 
of Russian communications between Sistova and Tirnova, 
and, effecting a junction on the Lorn with the Rasgrad 
Army under Mehemet Ali Pasha, might have brought about 
a Russian Sedan at Tirnova or Biela. Had he j)ressed for- 
ward to the Danube, he might have recovered Nieopolis, 
or even seized upon the Russian bridge at Sistova, which was 
then entirely unprotected except by the beaten forces be- 
fore Plevna. 

Luckily for the Russians, Osman did not know the full 
extent of their demoralization, or, knowing it, he did not 



THE RUSSIAN PREPARATIONS. 



471 



feel equal to the task of compassing their utter destruction. 
It was, assuredly, a heavy blow which he had already in- 
flicted by merely standing at bay, and perhaps he feared 
to lose his advantage by a bold adventure in the open field. 

By the middle of August the seven divisions of rein- 
forcements, called for after the reverse at Plevna, began to 
arrive in Roumania, the first brigade having reached Sim- 
nitza on the 10th. The bridge at that place proving in- 
sufficient for the immense work of transportation, a new 
one was being constructed in August, at Pirgos, a few miles 
above Rustchuk. 

In anticipation of a renewed effort to take Plevna, it 
was determined that the Emperor should be a witness of 
the expected victory. About the middle of August both 
the Emperor and the Grand Duke established their head- 
quarters at Gorny-Stuclen, a village on the road from Biela 
to Poradim. In the interval, the Roumanian Army was 
joining the Russians before Plevna, and was assigned an 
honorable prominence on the right wing, the attack upon 
the Gravitza redoubts being intrusted to them. The fourth 
cavalry division was detached on an independent expedi- 
tion to the southward to intercept Turkish communications 
between Sophia and Plevna, by blocking the Balkan Pass, 
near Orkhanieh. General Zimmerman was reinforced in 
the Dobrudscka, in anticipation of an attack which was 
not made. The batteries at Giurgevo bombarded Pust- 
chuk vigorously on the 14th and loth of August, without 
important result. General Gourko was sent to Russia to 
meet the reinforcements, which, to the number of 180,000, 
were on the march, and resumed the command of his own 
division of the cavalry guard, forming a portion of those 
reinforcements. General ZotofY was provisionally in com- 
mand before Plevna, where the Russians constructed three 
lines of intrenchments. Operations both on the Danube 



472 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



and before Plevna were materially delayed by immense 
rains, which lasted several days, about the middle of 
August, made the roads impassable for the time, and con- 
verted the whole country into a slough of despond. 

It is pleasant to note that the Russian authorities ap- 
preciated the value of friendly criticism, and that the out- 
spoken letter of Mr. Forbes, describing the great reverse 
at Plevna, instead of giving offense to the Russian staff, 
was adopted at head-quarters as substantially accurate, and 
was ordered to be reprinted in the Russian official news- 
papers, pending the preparation of the official report upon 
that battle. This decision was personally communicated by 
the chief of staff to Mr. Forbes in the most complimen- 
tary terms. We will conclude this chapter with a sum- 
mary view of the military situation, just previous to the 
renewed effort against Plevna, from the pen of the same 
distinguished correspondent. The letter is written from 
Gorny-Studen, August 22d. 

"A very interesting crisis seems impending in the war, 
a crisis of extreme technical interest to the student of war, 
and of momentous consequence in a general sense, what- 
ever be its issue. The Russians since the battle of Plevna 
have been tied to the defensive, and not always the success- 
ful defensive ; but as they are invaders it behooves them 
to resume the offensive, whatever be the hazard, or stand 
confessed as thwarted in their scheme of invasion. The 
Turks are standing also substantially on the defensive, but 
it is a threatening defensive, with occasional and ominous 
strokes of the offensive. Theoretically, at least, their situa- 
tion is the better one, since they have the choice of alter- 
natives. They may strike if they consider the chances 
justify their striking ; they may adhere to the defensive if 
the defensive promises better results; but appearances 
would indicate that they mean to take the offensive, and as 




HOSPITAL SCENE DURING THE BOMBARDMENT OF EUSTCHUCK. 




TURKISH CAVALRY FOLLOWING THE RUSSIANS. 



A CALCULATION OF PROBABILITIES. 



475 



the Russians are tied to this course, the question of the 
next few days is, which side will anticipate the other in 
taking the offensive. A fortnight should suffice to solve 
the problem. 

"According to information on which I am entitled to 
rely, it is certain that the Russians will not be in an ad- 
vantageous position to resume the offensive for a week, and 
it is certain that they will, indeed that they must, do so as 
soon as they are ready. What an interesting climax of a 
most interesting period it would be were both sides simulta- 
neously to abandon the defensive and strike blow for blow ! 
Only this must be considered, that the first offensive action 
of the Russians must necessarily be concentrated against the 
Turkish Plevna front, while it is in the power of the Turks 
to strike at the Russians simultaneously all round the edge 
of the broad oval now in Russian occupation in Bulgaria. 
It is a nervous time for the Russians till their strength in- 
creases sufficiently to put them comparatively at their ease. 
Any day the blow may fall and strain their resources to 
the utmost. The Turks by no means allow them to build 
on the assurance that there will be no hard fighting till the 
Grand Duke Nicholas gives the signal for his stout fellows 
to fall on. On the contrary, their attitude is actively 
menacing all the way round. 

"On the 16th, there was a general reconnoissance in 
some force by the Turks all along the Russian left flank. 
From the Danube to beyond the Balkans, from under the 
guns of Rustchuk, from Rasgrad, from Osman Bazar to- 
wards Bebrova, and at half a dozen intermediate places, 
the soldiers of Mehemet Ali Pasha beat up the Russian 
positions confronting them. There was not much hard 
fighting, and probably little loss on either side, but the 
significance of the business was that the Turks took the 
initiative. 



476 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



" From tlie Tunclja Valley on the same day a column of 
Suleiman Pasha's force attempted strenuously to force the 
Hainkoi Pass. It has been reported that success attended 
this effort, but I am officially assured that this was not so. 
A Turkish column did indeed force its way into the defile, 
but was there so roughly handled by the Russian artillery 
in position, and by a regiment of the 9th Division holding 
the pass, that it was compelled to retire. 

"A day or two later a Turkish division made a threat- 
ening demonstration from Grivitza, a strong Turkish posi- 
tion in front of Plevna. The Turks are by no means 
resting after this work, now some days past. Up till now 
they continue to display a modified activity. They struck 
out from Rustchuk the day before yesterday. On the 
some day there was fighting, although not serious, before 
Osman Bazar. I myself, riding along the Plevna front on 
the same day, was witness of an artillery skirmish in front 
of Skobeleff's position near Loftcha, where the Turks 
began the ball, and the Cossacks under Skobeleff's com- 
mand are harassed day and night by forepost work. Now, 
all this may portend the close approach, of the Turkish of- 
fensive. On the other hand, it may mean simply the 
determination of the Turkish generals so to employ the 
Russians all round the semicircle as to hinder concentra- 
tion on any particular point. Whatever their intentions, 
it is certain that Turkish policy disturbs the Russian dis- 
positions. 

"In a recent telegram I told you that the 2d Division, 
having crossed the Danube, was massed here preparatory 
to marching in the Plevna direction. Suleiman Pasha is 
threatening to attack the Shipka Pass with forty battalions. 
The defenders of the pass consist of but twenty companies 
under General Stoletoff, consisting of the relics of the Bul- 
garian Legion and three battalions of the 9th Russian 



ARRIVAL OF REINFORCEMENTS. 



477 



Division. The 2d Division has therefore been diverted 
from its intended destination, and is being marched on to 
Selvi to relieve a brigade of the 9th Division, ordered to 
the Shipka. In a recent visit to the Plevna front I was 
surprised to find that so few reinforcements as yet had 
reached the Russian troops holding it. Compared with 
before the battle there is but 'the addition of the Rou- 
manians, and the 16th Division : but to-day are crossing 
the Danube 8,000 reserves to fill up the gaps made by the 
war in the ranks of the 9th Corps, which, when these join 
in a few days, will restore that corps to its full strength. 
On the other hand, Schahofskoy has marched Lis brigade 
of the 32d Infantry Division back to his original position 
at Kosarevac, confronting Osman Bazar, and he will med- 
dle no more with the work he found so hard. 

"Thus on the Plevna front, when the 9th Corps gets its 
complement, the Russians will have two full army corps, 
the 4th and 9th — the former is nearly complete, the lat- 
ter will be wholly so — at least, nominally — two Rouma- 
nian divisions of infantry and the 11th Cavalry Division. 
SkobelefY's detachment, consisting of a brigade of Circas- 
sian Cossacks, with some infantry and artillery, is watching 
Loftcha. There is to be included also the 9th Cavalry 
Division, and I roudilv estimate the whole Russo-Rouma- 
nian force confronting Plevna, at from sixty-five to sev- 
enty thousand men. In this estimate I do not include the 
4th Cavalry Division, whose line of detached operation is 
toward the road through the Balkans from Sophia. The 
Russians before Plevna are unquestionably inferior in nu- 
merical strength to Osman Pasha's army. 

"To my thinking, the Russians have over- fortified their 
semicircle of environment. Roughly, they have three 
lines of spadework, and great indulgence in spadework, or 
rather in the shelter of spadework, is apt to detract from 



478 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



the prompt, vivacious fighting impulse in the open. The 
works are rough enough, and the redoubts sometimes are 
faultily placed on slopes leaning toward the enemy's can- 
non, and so needlessly exposing their interior instead of 
crowning the ridge, at once a better protected and more 
wide-ranging position. But it must be said that the troops 
have been very industrious, and there can be no question 
of their anxious eagerness to be allowed to fight again. 
Indeed, they do not smother their murmurs at the delay, 
which I do not think will be so long now as most people 
imagine. 

"The Russian authorities are greatly pleased with the ap- 
pearance and apparent efficiency of the Roumanian artil- 
lery. Indeed, the Roumanian troops are everywhere now 
spoken of with a consideration not previously evinced. 
Information has reached the Russian head-quarters that the 
Turks were organizing a sweeping massacre of Christians 
in the Bebrova district, between Osman Bazar and the 
Balkans, and a cavalry regiment has been sent thither to 
afford protection. 

"The Russian corps, brigades and divisions are curiously 
split up and intermixed. No importance is apparently at- 
tached to the cohesion of any of these integers, and the 
service does not seem to suffer from this dispersion." 



CHAPTER XVI. 



FIGHTING IN THE SHIPKA PASS. 

Since the retreat of General Gourko into the Shipka 
Pass, on August 2d, the Russians had maintained posses- 
sion of that position important, not so much for offensive as 
for defensive reasons, to prevent the junction of Suleiman 
Pasha with Mehemet Ali, and an attack upon their rear 
while engaged before Plevna. This pass was now to be- 
come memorable as the scene of some of the most desperate 
fighting of the war. 

Suleiman Pasha had orders to pass the Balkans and re- 
inforce Mehemet Ali. There were other passes through 
which he might have forced his way without great diffi- 
culty, especially the Hainkoi Pass, east of Shipka, where 
he did, in fact, make a demonstration, but retired without 
serious fighting. Had Suleiman speedily joined Mehemet 
Ali, and the combined armies attacked the army of the 
Czarewitch before the arrival of the Russian reinforce- 
ments, the consequences to the Russians must have been 
very serious. -In view of the final results of the campaign, 
it is now admitted by all, that this should have been his , 
course. Even in August, it was sufficiently plain to 
intelligent strategists on both sides, that an attack upon 
the Shipka Pass could only be justified by success, and 
that no amount of loss inflicted upon the Russians, while 
they retained possession of Shipka could compensate the 
immense advantage that resulted to them from keeping 
apart the two Turkish armies in the field. 

479 



480 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Whether it was jealousy on the j)art of Suleiman which 
made him unwilling to effect a junction by which he would 
be compelled to act under the orders of a superior, or 
whether it was simply the conviction that by forcing the 
Shipka Pass, he could most promptly and effectively co- 
operate with the projected advance of Mehemet Ali against 
the Russian centre, must remain a disputed point. Certain 
it is that he directed his whole energies for weeks against 
this one point ; and thereby frustrated the Turkish plan 
of campaign which presupyposed his union with Mehemet 
Ali. 

On Augiist 19th, Suleiman occupied the village of Shipka, 
at the southern entrance of the pass of the same name, and. 
on the 20th occupied, with his artillery, the positions imme- 
diately in front of the summit of the pass. On the 21st, 
he made a vigorous attack upon the Russian positions, then 
held only by 3,000 men, with 40 guns, and succeeded in 
gaining the outer Hues. After desultory fighting on the 
22d, a most desperate and prolonged assault was made on 
the 23d, and was on the point of success when it was re- 
pulsed late in the evening by the timely arrival of Russian 
reinforcements. The attack was renewed on the 24th with 
a similar result, this two days' battle costing the lives of 
many thousands of combatants on both sides. The inci- 
dents of this great battle can never be better told than by 
Mr. Forbes, who was an eye-witness. 

Leaving Gorny-Stuclen on the morning of the 22d, Mr. 
Forbes rode in the direction of the cannon tli under. He 
learned at Tirnova that a brigade of the 9th Division, 
lately stationed at Selvi, had been sent to Shipka, and 
that General Radetsky, in command of the 8th Corps, had 
also gone forward with hurriedly-gathered reinforcements. 
Prince Imeritinsky had also been dispatched thither, but 
had been detained at Selvi, where he was, on that day, 



DESCRIPTION OF THE SHIPKA PASS. 483 

engaged in repelling a vigorous Turkish attack upon his 
right flank. All the way from Tirnova to Gabrova, the 
country was one vast melancholy encampment, and the 
road one continuous mournful procession of miserable fugi- 
tive families from Kezanlik and the villages on the south- 
ern slopes of the Balkans, where the Turks had regained 
their fell sway of rapine and murder on the withdrawal of 
General Gourko's force. Mr. Forbes reached the pass on 
the morning of the 24th. We will allow him to continue 
the narrative in his own words : 

" On my way to the scene of action, and while surveying 
it before following closely the movement of the troops en- 
gaged, I was much impressed by the peculiarity of the 
ground. The Shipka Pass is not a pass at all in the 
proper sense of the term. There is no gorge, no defile ; 
there is no spot where 300 men could make a new Ther- 
mopylae; no deep-scored trench as in the Khyber Pass, 
where an army might be annihilated without coming to 
grips with its adversary. It has its name simply because 
at this point there happens to be a section of the Balkans 
of less than the average height, the surface of which, from 
the Yantra Valley on the north to the Tundja Valley on 
the south, is sufficiently continuous, although having an 
extremely broken and serrated contour, to afford a foothold 
for a practicable track, for the Balkans generally present a 
wild jumble of mountain and glen, neither having any 
continuity. Under such circumstances, such a crossing- 
place as the Shipka Pass affords is a godsend, although 
under other circumstances a road over it would be regarded 
as impossible. What was a mere track is now a really 
good anal practicable, although steep, high road. The 
ground on either side of the ridge is depressed sometimes 
into shallow hollows, sometimes into cavernous gorges ; but 
these lateral depressions are broken, and have no continu- 



484 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



ity, otherwise they would clearly afford a better track for a 
road than the high ground above. 

"The highest peak is flanked on either side behind the 
lateral depressions by a mountainous spur higher than 
itself, and therefore commanding it, and having as well the 
command of the ridge behind. The higher one, that is to 
say, the westmost of these two spurs, can rake the road 
leading up to the Russian positions. These spurs break 
off abruptly and precipitously on their northern edge, and 
therefore afford no access into the valley north of the 
Balkans. Their sole use to the Turks, therefore, was in 
affording positions whence to flank the central Shipka 
ridge. It is possible, also, for troops to descend from them, 
struggle through the intervening glens, and climbing the 
steep slopes of the Shipka ridge, give the hand to each 
other on the road which runs along its backbone to its sum- 
mit. This done, the Shipka position would, of course, be 
turned, but the advantage would be of little avail till the 
road had been opened by carrying the fortified positions on 
it. Without the command of the road an enemy might 
indeed send bands down the road on to which he had 
scrambled, into the lower country about Gabrova, to burn 
and plunder, but I repeat that the road over the Shipka 
constitutes for an army the only practicable line of com- 
munication in this section of the Balkans. 

"Much has been said of the strength of the Shipka 
position. In these opinions I do not concur. It seems to 
me that unless strongly held with wide extending arms of 
defense, it is easy to be attacked and very difficult to be 
held with any security. The strength of a position does 
not depend wholly on its elevation or even on the difficul- 
ties of access to a direct attack, but on the clear range 
around it which its fire can sweej), and its ability to con- 
centrate its fire on critical points. Herein lies the defect 



THE RUSSIAN FORCE. 



485 



of the Shipka as a defensive position. It cannot search 
with its fire the jumble of lateral valleys and reverse slopes 
which hem it in. A brigade of light infantry might mass 
in a hollow within one hundred yards of the Russian first 
position without exposing itself to the artillery-fire of that 
position. 

"The troops engaged in to-day's battle were as follows: 
The Bulgarians and a regiment of the 1st Brigade of the 
9th Division, under General Stoletoff; the 2d Brigade of 
the 9th Division, under General Derozinsky; the Rifle 
Brigade, under General Tzwilzwinski. The 2d Brigade of 
the 14th Division, commanded by General Petroceni, ar- 
rived at nine in the morning, brought up by the commander 
of the division, General Dragomiroff, the whole force being 
under the chief command of General Radetsky, command- 
ing the 8th Corps, which is composed of the 9th and 14th 
Divisions, in all twenty battalions, which, if full, would 
give an aggregate of about seventeen thousand men; but 
every regiment engaged had already fought, and lost. The 
Tirailleurs and Bulgarians shared the fortunes and mis- 
fortunes of General Gourko. The 14th Division fought 
hard in crossing the Danube. The stones of the Shipka 
had already been splashed with the blood of Mirsky's gal- 
lant fellows of the 9th Division. I set down the total 
strength as not above thirteen thousand. 

" The operations had commenced at daybreak. An attack 
was made on the Turkish commanding position on the Rus- 
sian right flank, by the Tirailleur Brigade and the Brian- 
ski Regiment of the 9th Division. Almost at the same 
moment the Turks from that position renewed their turn- 
ing effort, extending their left, with intent to push across 
the intervening deep valley and gain the top ridge of the 
ground in the rear of the Russian positions, and so hem in 
the Russian forces. These simultaneous attacks met in the 



486 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Valley separating the parallel ridges held by the Russians 
and Turks. The fighting became at once fierce and stub- 
born. I had been told, about eight o'clock, that in half an 
hour the Turks would be driven back. When I reached 
the crest of the Russian ridge I was forced to confess I 
saw no immediate prospect of this. A furious infantry-fire 
was raging in the valley between our bare central ridge 
and the Turkish higher wooded ridge. The bareness of 
our slope brought it about that our men went down into 
battle without cover, blistered by the Turkish infantry- 
fire from their wooded slope, and by the shell-fire of the 
mountain batteries on the summit. The Russian battery 
in the first position confronting the Turkish summit fired, 
but at rare intervals. It is true it is waste of ammunition 
to shower shells into trees, but the Turkish battery on the 
sky-line unquestionably afforded a mark, and it would 
have been worth while to throw a few shells to help to 
cover with their moral effect the advance of our infantry. 
I fancy there was a long jDeriod when the battery was short 
of ammunition. The road is so exposed that fetching am- 
munition was extremely dangerous. The Turks had de- 
tachments of marksmen detailed with seemingly no other 
duty than to sweep the Russian road at the exposed points 
of its course, and, indeed, to fire at everything and every- 
body exposed on the Russian ridge. To see anything and 
to attain shelter from the rifle-fire were incompatible 
objects. 

" I went up on to the sky-line once, and sat down to study 
the interesting scene below, and my white cap-cover in an 
instant drew fire from half a dozen rifles. We were all 
under rifle-fire continually the whole day, from the com- 
mencement of the action till the Turkish position was 
finally carried. From staff officers who had been on the 
ground during the whole period of operations I received 



THE TURKISH ATTACKS. 



487 



details of the forces engaged, and the character of the 
fighting on the previous days. 

" The Turks began the attack on the 21st, pushing on 
directly up the steeps above the village of Shipka. The 
Russian garrison in the works of the pass then consisted 
of the Bulgarian Legion and one regiment of the 9th Di- 
vision, both weakened by previous hard fighting, and 
probably reckoning little more than three thousand bayonets, 
with about forty cannon. No supports were nearer than 
Tirnova, a distance of forty miles — a grave omission. The 
garrison fought hard and hindered the Turks from gaining 
any material advantage, though the latter forced the outer 
line of the Russian shelter-trenches on the slopes below 
the position of Mount St. Nicholas, the highest peak of the 
Shipka crossing. The Russians had laid mines in front of 
their trenches, which were exploded just as the head of 
the Turkish assaulting parties were massed above them, 
and it is reported that a large number of Moslems were 
blown up into the air in fragments. The loss to the Rus- 
sians on the first day's attack was but two hundred, chiefly 
of the Bulgarian Legion. On the second day, the 22d, 
the fighting was not heavy, the Turks being engaged in 
making a wide turning movement on the right and left 
flanks of the Russian position, and these attacks were next 
day developed with great fierceness and pertinacity. 

" Yesterday the Turks assailed the Russian position on the 
•ont and flanks, and drove in the defenders from their out- 
lying ground. The radical defects of the position became 
painfully apparent — its narrowness, its exposure, its liabil- 
ity to be outflanked and isolated. Fortunately reinforce- 
ments had arrived, which averted the mischief which had 
otherwise, to my thinking, imminently impended. Stole- 
toff hit his hardest, and a right good fighting man he is, 
full of energy and force after four long days of intense 



488 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



mental and physical strain ; but lie could not perform im- 
possibilities with thirty thousand men thundering on his 
front and flanks. But there had come to him swiftly 
marching from Selvi, a brigade of the 9th Division, com- 
manded by another valiant soldier, General Derozinski, 
and this timely succor had been of material value to Stole- 
toff. The fight lasted all day, and at length, as the sun 
grew lower, the Turks had so worked round on both the 
[Russian flanks that it seemed as though the claws of the 
crab were about momentarily to close behind the Russians, 
and that the Turkish columns climbing either face of the 
Russian ridge would give a hand to each other on the road 
in the rear of the Russian position. 

" The moment was dramatic with an intensity to which 
the tameness of civilian life can furnish no parallel. The 
two Russian generals, expecting momentarily to be en- 
vironed, had sent, between the closing claws of the crab, a 
last telegram to the Czar, telling what they expected, how 
they had tried to prevent it, and how that, please God, 
driven into their positions and beset, they would hold these 
till reinforcements should arrive. At all events, they and 
their men would hold their ground to the last drop of their 
blood. 

" It was six o'clock ; there was a lull in the fighting, of 
which the Russians could take no advantage, since the re- 
serves were all engaged. The grimed, sun-blistered men 
were beaten out with heat, fatigue, hunger and thirst. 
There had been no cooking for three days, and there was 
no water within the Russian lines. The poor fellows lay 
panting on the bare ridge, reckless that it was swept by 
the Turkish rifle-fire. Others doggedly fought on down 
among the rocks, forced to give ground, but doing so 
grimly and sourly. The cliffs and valleys send back the 
triumphant Turkish shouts of 'Allah il Allah !' 



ARRIVAL OF REINFORCEMENTS. 



489 



f< The two Russian generals were on the peak which the 
first position half incloses. Their glasses anxiously 
scanned the visible glimpses of the steep brown road lead- 
ing up there from the Yantra Valley, through thick copses 
of sombre green, and yet more sombre dark rock. Stoletoff 
cries aloud in sudden access of excitement, clutches his 
brother general by the arm, and points down the pass. 
The head of a long black column was plainly visible against 
the reddish-brown bed of the road. ' jSTow God be thanked ! ' 
says Stoletoff, solemnly. Both generals bare their heads. 
The troops spring to their feet. They descry the long 
black serpent coiling up the brown road. Through the 
green copses a glint of sunshine flashes, banishes the som- 
breness, and dances on the glittering bayonets. 

" Such a gust of Russian cheers whirls and eddies among 
the mountain tops that the Turkish war cries are wholly 
drowned in the glad welcome which the Russian soldiers 
sent to the comrades coming to help them. Some time 
elapses. The head of the column draws near the Karaula, 
and is on the little plateau in front of the khan. But they 
are mounted men. The horses are easily discernible. Has 
Radetsky, then, been so left to himself, or so hard pushed, 
that he has sent cavalry to cope with infantry among the 
precipices of the Balkans ? Be they what they may, they 
carry a tongue that can speak, for on the projection to the 
right of the khan a mountain battery has just come into 
action against the Turkish artillery on the wooded ridge, 
by the occupation of which the Turks are flanking the 
right of the Russian position. There are no riders on the 
horses now, and they are on their way down hill. But a 
column of Russian infantry are on the swift tramp uphill 
till they get within firing distance of the Turks on the 
right, and then they break, scatter, and from behind every 
stone and bush spurt white jets of smoke. 



490 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



"It is a battalion of the Rifle Brigade, hurried up on Cos- 
sack 23onies, the brigade itself is not three kilometres behind, 
and it is a rifle brigade that needs no more fighting in the 
Balkans to link its name with the great mountain chain. 
It is the same rifle brigade which followed General Gourko 
in his victorious advance and checkered retreat. The bri- 
gade has marched fifty-five kilometres straight on and 
without cooking or sleeping, and now is in action without 
so much as a breathing halt. Such is the stuff of which 
thorough good soldiers are made. Their general, the gal- 
lant Radetsky, accompanies them, and pushes an attack 
on the enemy's position on that wooded ridge on the Rus- 
sian right. But Radetsky, who himself brought up the 
Tirailleurs, and so at the least reckoning saved the day, 
marches on up the read with his staff at his back, runs the 
triple gauntlet of the Turkish rifle-fire, and joins the other 
two generals on the jDeak hard by the batteries of the first 
position. As senior and highest officer present, he at once 
took command, complimenting General Stoletoff, whom he 
relieved, on the excellence of his dispositions and stub- 
bornness of defense. 

" In the night, the renewed attempt to carry the Turkish 
positions threatening the right flank might well have been 
spared. But it was felt that there was no safety, far less 
elbow-room, for the Russians, until the Turks should be 
driven off that dominating wooded ridge looming so ugly 
on the right flank. The left flank, which the Turks as- 
sailed the previous day, was now comparatively safe. So 
to-day's fighting began at daybreak with a renewed attack 
of the Russians on the position specified. The Bulgarian 
peasant boys displayed singular gallantry in the same work 
as that in which the despised Indian bheestie has so often 
done good service to our soldiers, by going clown into the 
actual battle, right into the first line, with stone crocks full 



\ 



A DANGEROUS MAECH. 491 

of water for the fighting men. This water was fetched 
from far in the rear, along a bullet-swept road — for there 
is no water on the position itself. One lad had his crock 
smashed by a bullet as he passed me, and he wept, not for 
joy at his fortunate escape, but for sorrow at the loss of the 
article which enabled him to be of service. 

" The fighting hung very much in the valley, and the 
reinforcements of the 9th Division sent down effected not 
much perceptible good. About nine, Dragomiroff arrived 
with two regiments of the 2d Brigade of his own division. 
The Podolsk Regiment, he left in reserve near the khan ; 
with the Jitomer Regiment, he marched up the road to 
the first position. There was no alternative but to traverse 
that fearfully-dangerous road, for the lower broken ground 
on its left was impracticable, and reported, besides, to be 
swarming with Bashi-Bazouks. The Jitomer men lost 
heavily while making this promenade, and having reached 
the peak, found no safe shelter, for the Turkish rifle-fire 
was coming from two quarters simultaneously. 80 the 
infantry were stowed away till wanted in the ditch of the 
redoubt. Radetsky and his staff remained on the slope of 
the peak, and here Dragomiroff joined, and was welcomed 
by his chief. 

" The firing in the valley waxed and waned fitfully as 
the morning wore on to near noon. The Turks were very 
strongly established in their wooded position, and there 
was an evident intention on their part to work round their 
left and edge in across the narrowed throat of the valley 
towards our rear. About eleven, the firing in the valley 
swelled in volume. It was almost wholly musketry-fire, be 
it remembered. Taking off my white hat, I crept up to the 
edge of the ridge and looked down upon the scene below. 
The Russians had their Tirailleurs in among the trees of the 
Turkish slope, leaving the bare ground behind strewn with 



492 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



killed and wounded. The ambulance men were behaving 
admirably, picking up the wounded under the hottest fire, 
and, indeed, not a few were themselves among the wounded. 
As to the progress of the Russians in the wood, little could 
be seen, the cover was so thick, but it was clear that the 
battle waged to and fro, now the Russians, now the Turks, 
gaining ground. Occasionally the Russians, at some point, 
would be hurled clean back out of the wood altogether, 
and, with my glass, I could mark the Turks following them 
eagerly to its edge, and lying down while pouring out a 
galling fire. It seemed an even match; the Turks and 
Russians alike accepting valiantly the chances of battle. 
The Russian Tirailleurs, finely-trained skirmishers, looked 
out dexterously for cover, and the Turks displayed fine 
skirmishing ability, but the soldiers of the Brianski line 
regiment were not so good at finding cover. There was 
clearly no thought among them of quailing, but they stood 
up in the open as I have seen our Guards do in a sham 
fight, and took what came. As a natural result, this fine 
regiment showed the greatest proportion of casualties. 

" There is something terrible in a fight in a wood. You 
can see nothing save an occasional flash of dark color 
among the sombre foliage, and the white clouds of smoke 
rising above it like soap bubbles. Hoarse cries come back 
to you on the wind from out the mysterious inferno. How 
is it to go ? Are the strong-backed Muscovites, with these 
ready bayonet points of theirs, to end the long-drawn-out 
fight with one short, impetuous, irresistible rush ; or are 
the more lissom Turks to drive their northern adversaries 
out of the wood backwards into the fire-blistered open? 
Who can tell? 

" The fire rages still. The mad clamor of the battle still 
surges up around into the serene blue heavens. Wounded 
men come staggering out from among the swarthy trunks 



GENERAL DRAGOMIROFF WOUNDED. 493 



and sit down in a heap, or crawl on to the ambulance men. 
I leave the edge of the ridge soon after eleven, and pick 
my way up towards the peak, on the slope of which the 
generals and staff are surveying the scene. The bullets 
here are singing like a nest of angry wasps. One bullet 
strikes, on the right knee, General Dragomiroff, who has 
been standing calmly in the face of the fire, looking down 
upon the battle. One of the best generals in the Russian 
Army is hors de combat. He is as brave as he is skillful. 
He never so much as takes his spectacles off, but w T hen we 
have borne him into comparative shelter quietly sits down, 
and, ripping up his trouser-leg, binds a handkerchief round 
the wound. Surgeons gather round him ; but, like the 
true soldier he is, he says he will take his turn when it 
comes. He is carried further out of the line of fire, his 
boot removed and the limb bandaged. Then he is placed 
on a stretcher, and is borne away. The last words on the 
noble soldier's lips are a fervent wish for good fortune to 
the arms of the Czar. 

"The Tirailleurs and Brianski Regiment were not 
making headway in their difficult enterprise of attacking 
direct in front the steep Turkish slope, with its advantage 
of wooded cover, although they have foiled the efforts of 
the Turks to work round by their own left into our rear. 
"We can see on the sky-line the Turkish reinforcements as 
they come up' out of the valley by the road close to their 
mountain battery, on the bare spot near the edge of their 
left flank. It is determined, at twelve o'clock, to deliver a 
counter flank attack on the right edge of the Turkish 
ridge, simultaneously with a renewed strenuous attack 
of the Tirailleurs and the Brianski men from below. 
The two battalions of the Jitomer Regiment, each leav- 
ing one company behind as supports, emerge from the par- 
tial shelter of the peak of the Russian first position, and 



494 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



march in company columns across the more level grass- 
land, at the head of the intervening valley. They have 
no great dip to traverse, and their way is good marching- 
ground ; but the Turkish mountain-guns, from the battery 
high up on the wooded peak of the Turkish position, are 
ready for them, as also is the Turkish infantry on the 
Turkish right edge of the ridge. The fire sweeps through 
them, and many a gallant fellow dyes the grass with his 
blood. But the battalions press steadily on, and dash into 
the wood at the double. The Russian artillery had done 
its best to prepare the way, for their battery on the peak 
had fired hard while they were crossing over, and a reserve 
battery near the khan down below had come into action. 
But now the artillery had to cease, for there was danger in 
blind firing into the wood when our men were in it. The 
arbitrement had to be left to rifle and bayonet. 

" The crisis of the battle had now arrived. It remained 
for us but to gaze into the perplexing mystery of forest, 
and to hope fervently. The fighting of the infantry on the 
Turkish front and flank lasted for a long hour, and raged 
with great fury, but it was clear that the Russians were 
gradually gaining ground. The Turks were seen with- 
drawing their battery of mountain-guns near their right 
flank, a sure sign that danger menaced it if it stayed 
longer. Then the left battery followed their example, a 
sure sign too that the Tirailleurs and Brianskis were gain- 
ing the ridge on the Turkish left also. There remained 
but the central peak of the Turkish position. That car- 
ried, the ridge was ours, and our right flank would be set 
free from the dangerous pressure on it. 

" The fight was on the balance. The Russians as they 
stood could all but succeed, but not quite. It was an in- 
tensely exciting period, and Radetsky was equal to the 
occasion. I have mentioned that the Jitomer battalions 



A GALLANT CHARGE. 



495 



had left two companies in reserve when they marched out 
from behind the peak. Radetsky realized that fortune 
was not unkind ; but that she needed just a little more 
wooing. He himself took one of these companies, the 
Colonel of the Jitomer Regiment placed himself at the 
head of the other, and thus led the two companies set 
forward to throw themselves into the fray. Military 
critics will say that the chief of an army corps should not 
be at the head of a company. The abstract truth of the 
criticism may be owned ; but there are times when specific 
advantages outweigh conventional and general objections, 
and a brave leader, with a cool head, may be left to judge 
for himself if the opportunity has come to commit an error 
that he may gain a victory. To be headed. by the General 
in command would have inspired the least spirited troops. 
The soldiers of the Czar want no adventitious encourage- 
ment to stimulate in them the ardor for the fray. The 
Jitomers had been chafing at their inaction, but it was 
clear that the leadership of their chief thrilled them with 
increased zeal. Their ringing cheers rose high above the 
rattle of musketry as they dashed across the grassy slope at 
the head of the valley, and precipitated themselves into 
the wood. 

"Fortune, thus energetically wooed, yielded. There 
was a concentric rush on the peak. Its rude breastworks 
were surmounted ; there was some hot bayonet work, and 
then a tremendous volley of Russian hurrahs told that the 
Turkish ridge was cleared and the position won. This was 
at two o'clock to the moment. The Turk, if unspeakable, 
is also irrepressible. All day he had fought with stubborn 
valor, and would not yet own himself beaten. He came 
on again out of the valley beyond his late ridge, and strove 
to retake it ; but the Russian soldiers are not fond of relin- 
quishing positions earned by the price of blood, and the 



496 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Turks were repulsed. By three o'clock they had aban- 
doned the effort for the time, and the fire hereabouts had 
all but died out. 

" Radetsky now came back to the peak of his first posi- 
tion, panting, but content. He had fought a good fight 
and won it. Now he determined to strike while the iron 
was hot, and attempt to recover the outlying positions in 
his front, towards Shipka, on which the Turks had en- 
croached on the first day of the fighting. The Podolsk 
Regiment was called up from reserve, and went down to 
the attack under cover of a heavy fire of artillery from the 
Russian batteries around and beyond the position on Mount 
St. Nicholas. This attack, also, was partly successful, and 
Radetsky increased his elbow-room in front as well as on 
the flank. The Turks will no doubt renew the attack to- 
morrow with fresh troops, probably both in front and on 
the flanks. They are reported as pressing on through the 
narrow and difficult pass on the east of the Shipka, and 
leading down into Triavna. But I know that the Grand 
Duke has ordered a brigade to that point, with more troops 
to follow. I know that reinforcements are streaming on to 
the Shipka position. As I write, the 1st Brigade of the 
14th Division is arriving. Radetsky has broken up the 
dangerous pressure on his flanks. He means to hold the 
ridge whence he has expelled the Turks, and he certainly 
ought to be able to hold it. All danger is not yet over, 
but the atmosphere looks so much clearer that I think 
myself safe in leaving here to dispatch this long telegram, 
notwithstanding that the Turks are recommencing their 
efforts to regain the lost position. 

" The Turkish troops engaged were nearly all Nizam s — 
trained regulars, who fought admirably. There are very 
few Turkish prisoners. One avers that Suleiman Pasha 
has 100,000 men, which must be an exaggeration, even if 



MR. FORBES's GREAT RIDE. 



497 



they included the swarms of Circassians and Bashi- 
Bazouks collected to ravage the country north of the Bal- 
kans. I put down the Russian loss to-day at over 1 ,500 killed 
and wounded — a large proportion of the small force en- 
gaged. The Turks lost, perhaps, fewer to-day, hut in the 
previous days, when they were attacked, they must have 
suffered heavily. 

" During the fighting I spent some time with the sur- 
geons working in the most advanced positions, and should 
like to bear testimony to their admirable devotion to duty 
and their skilled dexterity. In their eagerness to assist 
the wounded, the Russian surgeons somehow neglect the 
axiom that their quarters should be in a sheltered spot ; 
but, indeed, on all the ridge it was hard to find a sheltered 
spot. The Turkish bullets whistled over and through the 
little group. Indeed, one patient received a fresh wound 
while the earlier one was being dressed; but the sur- 
geons pursued their duties with a noble courage and 
disregard of risk. Their kind attention to the wounded, 
and their attention to trifles — such as supplying water, 
laving burning faces and administering restoratives — filled 
me with admiratkn. As I leave the position at six o'clock 
comparative quietude reigns." 

Writing from the Russian head-quarters at Gorny- 
Studen, on the following day, August 25th, Mr. Forbes 
narrates an interview in which he communicated his obser- 
vations at Shipka to the Emperor : 

" Riding backward from Shipka through the night, I 
passed masses of reinforcements, artillery and infantry, 
hurrying forward to Shipka. It would be improper to 
specify their strength, but it is such as ought to secure the 
safety of the all-important position. Riding hard all night 
long, and to-day also, without either rest or food, I was fortu- 
nate enough to reach the head-quarters here in advance of 
32 



498 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



any of the aides-de-camp whom the Grand Duke had sent to 
the fighting region to report the progress of events. All 
news previously reaching the head-quarters had come by 
telegraph, and chiefs hard pressed by fighting fuctions, have 
no leisure to telegraph copiously. 

" Having communicated some details to the officers of 
my acquaintance on the Imperial staff, General Ignatieff 
acquainted the Emperor with my arrival, and His Majesty 
did me the honor to desire that he should hear what I had 
to tell, from my own lips. The concern of the Emperor 
was not less strongly evinced than was his thorough con- 
versance with the military art, and the promptitude with 
which he comprehended my details was more, I fear, owing 
to the trained skill of his perception than to my lucidity. 
He expressed an anxious desire that every effort should be 
made to supply his noble soldiers with the food they so 
much needed, and expressed great gratification when I was 
able to tell him I had seen camp-kettles bubbling even 
amid the whiz of bullets. The simplicity of His Majesty's 
habit of life is apparent at a glance. He carries no luxury 
with him, and I have seen a subaltern's tent at Wimbledon 
far more sumptuously accoutred than the campaigning 
residence of the Czar of All the Bussias. His Majesty 
desired that, on leaving him, I should go to his brother, 
the Grand Duke, commanding-in-chief. 

" Answering the questions of His Imperial Highness was 
like going through a competitive examination. He was 
fully master of the subject, and if Iliad not taken jDainsin 
gathering my facts from a wide area, I should have felt 
extremely foolish. As it was, I was able to draw for the 
Grand Duke a plan of the operations, and to illustrate my 
unskillful draughtsmanship by verbal explanations which, I 
trust, His Imperial Highness found of some value." 

Mr. MacGahan arrived at the pass on the evening of the 



MR. MACGAHAn's ARRIVAL. 



499 



24th, as Mr. Forbes was leaving for head-quarters. His 
account continues the interrupted narrative of his colleague, 
and gives us some fresh impressions of the nature of the 
conflict. We begin our extract with the commencement of 
the fighting on the 25th, the same day on which the Rouma- 
nian Army was crossing the Danube at Mcopolis, and 
Muktar Pasha was capturing the fortified hill of Kizil Tepe 
in Armenia: 

" General Radetsky had no sooner arrived than he began 
making dispositions in earnest. From the highest point of 
the pass there is a high, short, narrow ridge extending to 
the right at nearly right angles to the road. At a distance 
of half a mile it rises into a sharp peak, which is crowned 
by a Russian redoubt, effectually protecting the Russian bat- 
teries from that side. Half a mile farther, or perhaps less, 
the ridge rises into another peak, which, with the first one, 
forms a perfect saddle-back. This peak is crowned by the 
Turkish redoubt, already spoken of, and it is the head of 
the ridge mentioned which curves round on our right 
until parallel with the road, thus enabling the Turkish in- 
fantry to command it. 

"The Russian commander should have occupied this 
second peak, and would undoubtedly have done so, had he 
had enough men, but he only had one regiment, 3,000 
men, and the debris of the Bulgarian Legion — only enough 
to defend the direct approaches to the pass. It is true that 
another regiment was sent from Selvi to reinforce him as 
soon as it was known that the Turks were preparing to 
attack, but it was then too late, as the Turks seem to have 
occupied this position the first day. Besides, it was soon 
demonstrated that two regiments were required to protect 
the direct approaches against Suleiman's violent onset. 

"The two peaks occupied by the Russian and Turkish 
redoubts are thickly wooded, as well as the connecting 



500 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



ridge between. General Radetsky advanced his troops 
along this ridge under cover of the woods, and opened fire 
on the redoubt with two or three batteries. He, at the 
same time, sent troops across the deep hollow from the road 
to take the Turkish redoubt on the Gabrova side, by ad- 
vancing up the steep mountain flank. Soon a terrible 
musketry-fire told that the troops were in contact, and the 
attack fairly begun; and for hours the mountains re-echoed 
with the continuous roll of musketry and the thunder of 
cannon. 

" The Eussians advanced like Indians under cover of the 
trees, which were, however, too small to afford good shelter, 
firing as they went. In a short time they had reached 
within fifty yards of the redoubt. Here they found ob- 
stacles which, for the moment, were quite insurmountable. 
The Turks had cut down the trees around the redoubt, 
making an abattis over which the Russians found it almost 
impossible to pass. They gathered around the edge under 
cover of the trees, and suddenly made a rush for it, but 
were driven back with fearful loss. The soldiers became 
entangled in the masses of brush-wood, trunks and limbs 
of the trees over which they were obliged to scramble, 
while the Turks poured in a terrible fire upon them at 
this short distance and mowed them down like grass. Of 
the first assault launched against the redoubt I am afraid 
very few got back under cover to tell the tale. It was 
very evident that the assault, under such conditions, could 
not succeed. Only one battalion had been sent to attack. 
The force was insufficient, and of this, one company sent 
to the assault was nearly destroyed. Reinforcements were 
sent by Radetsky. The attack began again, but disposi- 
tions were made to place a large force in such positions that 
it could pour a heavy fire into the redoubt to cover the 
assault until the assaulters were almost up to the parapet. 



radetsky's chaege. 



501 



"This attack seemed almost on the point of success, for 
the colonel in command, whose name I forget, said that if 
reserves were given to him he could take it. The officer in 
command of the reserves let them go; but they were, never- 
theless, repulsed. Then Radetsky mounted and rode to 
the ground, followed by part of his staff. The chief of the 
staff, General Dimitriofsky, on foot, bareheaded, and sup- 
ported by two men, with an expression of extreme suffer- 
ing on his face, had put himself at the head of a battalion 
to lead the assault. A shell had struck the ground beside 
him, covering him with earth, knocking him down and 
rendering him senseless for a few minutes. The attack 
still went on. The fire became terrible. From among the 
trees rose a large column of smoke, marking the place of 
the Turkish redoubt, which was dimly seen through it, 
while the thick woods were full of the roll of the Russian 
musketry- fire. 

"The Russians advanced steadily. They rushed over, or 
through, the abattis ; they even got into the battery, and 
actually held it for a few seconds, but were driven out 
again. They surrounded the place on all sides, pouring 
into it a terrible fire, but were again driven back. In the 
meantime the Turks, to support the defense, began to 
attack in front and rear. Musketry and artillery were 
heard coming up from towards Shipka mingling with the 
nearer dim around the redoubt in a most sinister way. The 
wounded came trooping steadily back with wounds in their 
heads, arms and bodies. Some were on litters. One was 
carried by his companions. Some were limping along by 
themselves, presenting a most pitiable spectacle, covered 
with dust, smoke-begrimed, haggard, wretched. The losses 
must be very heavy, for the fight continued until late at 
night." 

The battle was renewed, but with less vigor, on the 26th, 



502 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



without any important result. On the 27th, Suleiman 
abandoned the attempt to carry by main-force the Russian 
positions, fell back and telegraphed for reinforcements. 
Mr. Forbes revisited the pass on August 31st, and thus 
describes the situation at the close of a memorable week: 

"All is now quiet. Radetsky has been left in compara- 
tive peace ever since the desperate fighting of the 25th. 
So far from his position being impinged on it has been 
extended. There are no Turks now on his left. The 
wooded mountain on his right wing, which he cleared of 
the Turks on the 24th, he had to quit for want of water, 
and the Turks came back. But now again the Turks have 
abandoned that position, and solitude reigns among the 
trees under which furious fighting raged. You may 
walk along the road from the khan in the rear of 
Radetsky's position right along to the final peak of the 
Balkans on Mount St. Nicholas, and thence down into 
the shelter- trenches, without once hearing the whistle of a 
bullet, where once the air vibrated with the hum of them. 

" The truth is that Suleiman Pasha has had enough for 
the time of the Shipka Pass. For five days he beat out 
the brains of his gallant, stubborn soldiers against its de- 
fenses and its defenders. Let no man after Shipka venture 
to assert that the Turkish soldiers are only good men 
behind earthworks. I respect a fine soldier wherever I 
find him, be he Greek or Jew, Gentile or Barbarian ; and 
the irrepressible dash and obdurate indomitable valor of 
the Turkish troops, in assaulting day after day this Shipka 
position, may claim to rank with any evidence of soldier- 
hood with which I am acquainted. But their valor proved 
unavailing. Suleiman Pasha has abandoned the attempt, 
and marched away from the neighborhood of Shipka. 
Some say that he is still in Kezanlik ; others that he is 
searching for another pass. My own belief is that he is 



EESULTS OF THE BATTLE. 



503 



engaged in trying to re-organize his shattered forces. Five 
thousand Turkish corpses fester in the blazing sunshine 
between the Shipka Tillage and the fringes of Mount St. 
Nicholas. All his Montenegrin soldiers have been re- 
moved. There remain still formally confronting the Rus- 
sians a few battalions of Egyptians, with some cannon on 
the heights, and a few more miscellaneous battalions in 
Shipka. 

"This morning a large mass of superfluous reinforce- 
ments, which had been hurried up to make a fight of it all 
the way from Shipka to Tirnova, had the pass been forced, 
started on their march back whence they came. The ten- 
dency of the Russian military authorities is always to ex- 
tremes. The danger the Russian fortunes underwent at 
the Shipka Pass, owing almost wholly to the folly of leav- 
ing unsupported a handful of men to hold that pass, was 
so great that when the storm burst and the peril was re- 
alized, every available man, down to the brigade guarding 
the Emperor, was hurried pell-mell towards the position, 
where there was only standing room for a limited number 
of men. The 2d Division has to-day returned whence it 
came. It is the same with the detachment of the 11th 
Division. Radetsky still has all the 14th Division, a 
brigade of the 9th Division, the Tirailleurs, the Bulgarians 
and a detachment of foot Cossacks, with strong artillery, to 
hold the pass' against all comers. 

" It is not a pleasant position. All the water is brought 
from a spring near the foot of the ascent. For lack of 
wood most of the cooking is done down by the Yantra, and 
the food is brought up in great kettles. The effluvium 
from the unburied dead and the unsanitary camp taints 
the freshness of the mountain atmosphere. All the troops 
bivouac. Radetsky inhabits a domicile, which is a place 
between a bower and a cavern. He says that the Turks 



504 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



made upwards of one hundred distinct attacks. God will- 
ing, says the stout old chief, he can and will stay there, 
come Turk or devil, till he gets relieved. The Russian 
loss during the fighting is set down at eight hundred killed 
and two thousand eight hundred and odd wounded. The 
figures are official. I should have thought the number 
considerably greater." 



CHAPTER XVII. 



THE GREAT ATTACK UPON PLEVNA. 

In anticipation of the new attack upon Plevna, Prince 
Charles, of Roumania, was appointed to the chief com- 
mand of the Russo-Roumanian army before that place, 
General ZotofT taking the position of second in command. 
Before the Russian preparations were complete, Osman 
Pasha made, on August 31st, a sortie in force against the 
Russian left centre in front of Poradim. The action was 
commenced at six o'clock in the morning by the appear- 
ance of a considerable body of Turkish cavalry between 
Raclisovo and Grivitza, who succeeded in driving the Rus- 
sian advance posts back from the line between Pelisat and 
Sgalince. The ground thus prepared, the serious attack of 
the day was made at eight o'clock in the same direction, 
by an infantry force estimated at 25,000, with a heavy 
artillery train. The attack was unexpected, and both 
Prince Charles and General Zotoff were away from the 
front. The village of Pelisat formed the extreme left of the 
Russian front, that of Sgalince was nearly the centre. 
Between and in front of these villages, was the scene of 
action of what is known as the battle of Pelisat, though 
the sharpest fighting seems to have been nearer Sgalince. 
The distance between head-quarters at Poradim and Pelisat 
was about two miles, over a plain planted with Indian corn 
and vines, and between Pelisat and Sgalince, a distance of 
a mile and a half, were a series of vine-clad hills. In front, 

505 



506 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



the ground sloped gradually upwards to the redoubts of 
Radisovo and Grivitza, which constituted the right and 
centre of the Turkish line of defense on the hills south- 
east of Plevna. At the apex of a triangle in front of Pelisat 
and Sgalince, but nearer to the latter village, the Russians 
had constructed two redoubts and a series of trenches. 
These redoubts were twice captured by the Turks in the 
course of the present day and twice retaken by the Rus- 
sians. The second capture by the Turks took -place about 
nine o'clock, within an hour after the commencement of 
the battle. Encouraged by their success, the Turks ad- 
vanced to the summit of a hill between the redoubt and 
the Russian left, and made a vigorous charge across the 
valley upon the Russian centre, occupying the hill-crests 
between Pelisat and Sgalince. The first charge lasted some 
twenty minutes, during which the Turks were mowed down 
in groups by the Russian artillery and by the sustained 
fire from the rifle-pits. They withdrew in good order, 
carrying away their wounded, but were not yet discouraged. 
They had no sooner got beyond the storm of rifle-balls, 
than they began to form again on the opposite slope. 
" Then," says an eye-witness, " they dived down into the 
Valley of Death to struggle there amid smoke and fire, a 
death-struggle of giants. Many bodies of Turks were 
found within ten feet of the Russian trenches. The little 
slope, on the crest of which the trenches were situated, was 
literally covered with dead. The battle here was terrible, 
but the Turks were again repulsed and again they retreated 
up the hill. It will hardly be believed that they went at 
it again ; and yet they did so. To us who had watched 
the two preceding assaults, it seemed madness, because we 
could see that the Russian fire never slackened an instant, 
and that the Russian line never wavered, while we knew 
that reserves were waiting behind, ready to fall in at the 



BATTLE OF PELISAT. 



507 



least sign of wavering. The scene of carnage was again 
repeated, but it only lasted a moment. The Turks, com- 
pletely broken, withdrew, sullenly firing, and taking time 
to carry off their wounded and many of their dead. Still 
they held the redoubt, upon which they fell back, appar- 
ently with the intention of holding it ; but they were not 
allowed to remain long there. The attack on the Russian 
centre had been equally unsuccessful with that on the Rus- 
sian trenches on the left. The Russians pursued them 
with a murderous fire, and then six companies went at 
them with the bayonet and swept them out of the redoubt 
like a whirlwind. At four o'clock, the Turks were in 
retreat everywhere. The Russians occupied the whole of 
their first positions, besides pursuing the Turks a short 
distance with cavalry. The Russians were about 20,000. 
Their loss is estimated at 500 and the Turkish loss at 2,000 
killed and wounded. " 

Mr. MacGahan rode over the battle-field when the affair 
was over, and drew the conclusion that, from the Rus- 
sian point of view, the whole system of fighting within 
fortifications was a mistake. It would, he thinks, have 
been much better for General Zotoff to have retreated 
upon the Bulgarians and drawn the Turks out into the 
open country, where their want of military science and of 
good officers, and the impossibility of executing manoeu- 
vres on the field of battle, would have put them at a great 
disadvantage as compared with the well-drilled Russian 
troops. If the Russians wish to fight them in the open 
field, he reasons, they should offer temptations to them to 
come out into the open field, and not meet them every- 
where with fortifications. "We quote Mr. MacGahan's 
vivid pen-picture of the field, or rather the ridge of Pelisat, 
after the battle: 

" On the ground between the left redoubt and Pelisat the 



508 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Russian and Turkish dead were lying side by side. This 
ground had been fought over twice. The little hollow 
breaks through, the crest of the hill of Sgalince and curves 
to the left in the direction of Pelisat for a distance of a 
quarter of a mile. It was along the brow of the low banks 
of Pelisat, by the side of the hollow, that the Russian 
trenches had been dug, among low brushwood two or three 
feet high, which partially hid them. It was here that 
the battle had raged hottest. Here, half-way between 
Pelisat and Sgalince, the Turkish attack was made with the 
greatest violence and persistence. The Turkish dead were 
lying here so close to the trenches that they might have 
shaken hands with the Russians lying inside. It was cer- 
tainly a desperate attack and a desperate resistance ; but 
had the Turks even carried these trenches, as seemed pos- 
sible, they would have been driven out by the Russian 
reserves lying in wait behind. The Turks, I observed, 
fired comparatively little, for what reason I know not, and 
they evidently hoped to win the day with the bayonet alone. 
It was in this little hollow I saw the Turks descend three 
times. 

" Everything considered, the attack seems to have been 
well directed. It was made so suddenly, and with such 
violence, that the Russian redoubt was taken almost by 
surprise. The first time it was, in fact, taken almost before 
General Zotoff knew the attack had begun ; but I look 
upon both the attack and the defense as useless expenditure 
of blood. The capture of these positions would have been 
of comparatively little importance to the Turks, unless they 
had followed it up by an attack on the positions behind 
Poradim, which General Zotoff has fortified as his second 
line of defense, and they did not bring forward enough 
troo|DS to have followed up the advantage had they gained 
one. They should have attacked with 50,000 men instead 



CAPTURE OF LOFTCHA. 



509 



of 20,000 ; or, better still, have attacked the Roumanians 
while only making a strong demonstration against General 
ZotofF, which everybody thought they would do." 

A glance at the position of Selvi on the map is sufficient 
to show its great strategical importance. Situated midway 
between Tirnova and Loftcha, it is the point of intersection 
of other roads leading from Drenova and from the passes 
of Shipka and Trojan, the latter being on the main line of 
communication between Plevna and Philippopolis. Selvi 
had been occupied by the Russians, as we have seen, from 
the time of their advance into Bulgaria, and simultane- 
ously with the first attack of Suleiman Pasha upon the 
Shipka Pass, a Turkish detachment from Plevna had 
unsuccessfully attacked that position August 22d. After 
the failure of the first series of assaults upon the Shipka 
Pass, the 2d Russian Division had returned from the rear : 
of that pass to Selvi. Prince Imeritinsky now prepared to 
capture Loftcha, as a part of the offensive operations 
against Plevna. This important town lies on the Osma 
River, in an amphitheatre surrounded by hills, and inter- 
sected by ravines, the bottom of the valley being crossed 
by a south-east and north-west ridge. On the evening of 
September 2d, General SkobelefF, with his brigade of Cir- 
cassian Cossacks, marched from Kakrind, his previous de- 
fensive position near Selvi, and carried by surprise two 
peaks of the encircling crest north-east of Loftcha, render- 
ing that place virtually untenable. The Turks, who did 
not number more than 7,000, fell back, during the ensuing 
night, upon the fortified range of heights to the south- 
west, and there awaited the attack. Prince Imeritinsky 
advanced with^the 2d Division, one brigade of the 3d Di- 
vision and a rifle brigade which had just returned from 
Gabrova, his whole force numbering 22,000 men. His 
right wing was under General Dobrovolsky, his left, under 



510 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



Skobeleff, the reserve, under General Engmann. Except 
the brigade of Skobeleff, none of them had before been in 
action. On the morning of September 3d, Imeritinsky's 
artillery was in position front of Loftcha, and, after some 
firing, it was advanced by General Dobrovolsky to the 
south of the town, where it could enfilade the range of 
heights held by the Turks and also cut off their line of re- 
treat into the Trojan Pass. The Turks resisted stub- 
bornly all day, repulsing several assaults, made a vain at- 
tempt to retire to Plevna, being driven back by Skobeleff's 
horse-artillery, and finally, about sundown, fell back to the 
westward pursued by Skobeleff's Cossacks and part of the 
Imperial escort. The Russians claim to have buried 2,200 
Turkish dead ; their own loss was slight. On the following 
day, Osman Pasha made a demonstration from Plevna, in 
the direction of Loftcha, but was easily repulsed. 

The renewal of the assault upon Plevna was fixed for 
the 7th. The Grand Duke moved his head-quarters the 
previous evening from Gorny-Studen to Radenitza, two or 
three miles east of Poradim, where Prince Charles, of Rou- 
mania, was in command of the newly-created " Army of 
Plevna," and was about to make his maiden essay in that 
capacity. The preparations were carefully made under the 
eye of General Zotoff, who was nominally chief of staff, 
but really was charged with still higher responsibilities. 
Something had been learned from the former battles, and 
the obvious blunder of sending to the front troops exhausted 
by a long march was not to be repeated. On the afternoon 
of the 6th, the Russians were closing up in every direction 
around the beleaguered town. The Russians lustily cheered 
their general on his appearance, and the Roumanians were 
eager to prove themselves men worthy of the honor con- 
ferred upon their prince. They were to have full oppor- 
tunity to distinguish themselves on the morrow before the 



THE KUSSIANS BEFORE PLEVNA. 



511 



great Griyitza redoubt, and tliey labored with a will in 
placing in position their huge siege-guns. The total of the 
allied forces may be estimated at 90,000 men, with 250 
field-guns and 20 siege-guns of 15 centimetres. At least 
80,000 were infantry, nearly all of whom, except the Rou- 
manians, had already been under fire. Kriidener was there 
with the 9th Corps, half-decimated by the previous Plevna 
fights, but now filled up nearly to its ordinary complement ; 
Kriloff was there with his 4th Corps of 20,000 men, and 
Imeritinsky was there with a brigade of his 2d Division, 
fresh from the laurels gathered at Loftcha. Of course, 
Skobeleff was there with his Circassian Cossacks. The 
Roumanians had two full infantry divisions of 16,000 men 
each, commanded by the brothers, Colonel Alexander 
Angelescu and George Angelescu, under the superior 
orders of the late Roumanian War Minister, General Cernet. 

The plan of operations for the battle of the 7th was 
very simple, and almost identical with that of the pre- 
vious attack. The horseshoe line of Turkish defenses, 
curved from the north to the eastward and thence to the 
south, was to be pierced at several points, chiefly in the 
centre, or toe of the horseshoe, at Grivitza, and the south- 
east at Radisovo. The Roumanians occupied the right, 
fronting Grivitza, strengthened towards their left by one 
division of the 9th Corps, while the other division occupied 
the downs above Sgalince and Pelisat, where Kriidener had 
his head-quarters. The 4th Corps stretched thence to 
Bogot, on the Loftcha road, where Kriloff had his head- 
quarters, fully eight miles south of Plevna. Still further 
southward, Prince Imeritinsky occupied the Loftcha road 
for several miles, with three mounted brigades, and had 
detached a fourth brigade to Trojan, at the foot of the Bal- 
kans. General ZotofT spent the night in personally in- 
specting his lines, and had indicated to Mr. Forbes as a 



512 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



point of rendezvous, at the break of day on the memorable 
7th, the heights between Sgalince and Pelisat, already 
known to us as the scene of the repulse of Osman's sortie, 
on August 31st. Thither the brilliant war correspondent 
directed his way while it was yet dark, and from this coign 
of vantage he shall be our historian : 

" The morning was cold, but fine, with no clammy driz- 
zle as on the morning of the previous battle. There was 
a weird impressiveness in the period of waiting up there 
among the long grass, watching the east for the light where- 
withal to begin the fell game of battle. There had been a 
sharp frost during the night, and as the sun began to rise the 
whole surface of the earth was covered with a dense frost- 
fog, which hung until dispelled by the sun's rays. About 
Pelisat I found the light brigade of the 4th Cavalry Divi- 
sion standing in reserve, along with a regiment of the 
Roumanian infantry and some Roumanian militia. I fol- 
lowed the road from Pelisat to Plevna, in the direction of 
Radisovo along the high ground, which had constituted the 
line of Schahofskoy's advance. We were on a broad sad- 
dle with undulations on either side of us. On the road we 
passed several battalions of the 30th and 5th Divisions, 
who had been working all night making battery emplace- 
ments for big guns, and were now going back towards 
Pelisat to constitute the reserve. We found ourselves just 
in the rear of the line of our batteries. On the slopes on 
our right were twelve of the big guns. On the slope on 
the other side were eight more, singularly close to the vil- 
lage of Grivitza. In position in front of the great guns 
were the field-batteries. The two on the right fired against 
the Grivitza redoubt above the village. Three more were 
blazing away at what, in my narrative of the previous bat- 
tle, I called the first Turkish position on the lower central 
ridge in front of Plevna. 



THE RUSSIAN FRONT. 



513 



"The firing began about half-past six, it being now 
eight. There was no artillery-firing apparent elsewhere 
than from the batteries whose position I have described. 
In the hollows in front, behind and on the flanks of the 
batteries, were stowed away the infantry of the 5th and 
31st Divisions, constituting the 9th Corps. Radisovo on 
our left front, held by the Turks, yesterday, was reported 
evacuated overnight by them, and we had- batteries, not 
indeed quite on the height before it, where in the previous 
battles Schahofskoy's cannon stood and fired so long, but 
on the slope to the right of it, almost in a line with, but 
retired from the height I have named. The firing waxes 
and wanes. A few of the siege-guns on the right, which 
can get sight of the towers of Plevna down the long hol- 
low, are pitching shells in that direction, and the field- 
guns fire in gusts, and then are almost still. The in- 
domitable Grivitza redoubt now fires, now . is still, with an 
almost comical nonchalance. Now and then a man is 
wounded in the batteries in our immediate front, but as yet 
the work is child's play, and the work of the day can 
hardly be said to have begun. 

"Affairs not progressing rapidly here, we rode away due 
south across the fields, behind the Radisovo hills and val- 
ley, to Tuchenitza. Mounting the slope beyond we looked 
back north-west toward the reserve on the slope of the 
height behind Radisovo, and observed there a large mass 
of infantry and artillery belonging to the Turkish division ; 
while above them on the ridge a battery was in action. 
Radisovo itself we could not see, because it stands imbeded 
in a curious fold of the valley. Whether it was held by 
the Turks or not we could not tell. We saw a few horse- 
men moving about, but whether Russian or Turkish patrols 
it was impossible to see on this slope. No mass of troops 
was visible, nor any artillery. A column of infantry and 
33 



514 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



artillery was marching through Tuchenitza on the southward 
to Bogot, and this we followed, although it took us some- 
what further away from Plevna, because by going towards 
Bogot it would be possible to learn what, if anything, was 
doing on our left flank. So far as regards the right oppo- 
site Grivitza, there was as yet nothing save artillery-fire. 
On the plateau above Bogot, troops stood ready to march. 
They were in battle array, and although their uniforms 
were sombre, still they made an imposing show. As we 
came up the slope by Bogot, we passed a battalion of the 
9th Division, an isolated battalion, marching down toward 
Tuchenitza, followed by a sotnia of wild-looking Kubanski 
Cossacks. 

" Putting our horses to feed in a deserted farmyard, we 
moved up through the massed troops, horse, foot and artil- 
lery, toward where the staff of General ZotofT stood on the 
hill-top. As we tramped, Skobeleff dashed past us at the 
head of a sotnia of Circasian Cossacks with whom he had 
been making a reconnoissance along the Loftcha-Plevna 
chaussee, and was on the way back to make a report. 
Prince Imeritinsky, fresh from his victory at Loftcha, was 
here above Botok, and his regiments were tramping down 
the slope, steadily up the hill, and down the slope again, 
on their way over Tuchenitza towards the ridge about Badi- 
sovo. After a brief halt we followed the great column, a 
curious mixture of regiments of the 2d Division, the 11th 
Division and even the 12th Division, and followed on to 
the height behind Badisovo, the spot where Schahofskoy 
delayed awhile to enable Kriidener to come up in co-opera- 
tion. 

"The battle had as yet hung fire, but now it was cer- 
tainly warming. Our cannon, great and small, on the 
Bussian right flank, where we had been in the morning, 
were firing furiously, whether still against Grivitza or not we 



SHELLING OF RADISOVO. 



515 



could not as yet tell. Another battery on the left of us, 
above Badisovo, was shelling what was called the Turkish 
first rjosition. The well-remembered scene lay stretched 
before me. The village of Badisovo at my feet, where the 
wounded died at the hands of the Bashi-Bazouks, the ridge 
above so swept erstwhile by the Turkish shells that I had 
to dismount, with now once again its slope occupied by 
masses of Bussian infantry, the white smoke hanging in 
the valley and on the low central ridge behind, the further 
ridge crowned with the Turkish camps, the towers of 
Blevna down among the green trees in the valley behind 
the town where the Bussian dead lay so thickly. It was 
much the old thing. We were working round on our left 
flank, but there was that indomitable Grivitza redoubt blaz- 
ing away as hard as ever. 

" There seemed no hurry. We sat down contentedly on 
the slope above the village and looked down into the place 
so peaceful-seeming there with its low roofs amid the set- 
ting of greenery. How history repeats itself! Here 
again are the shells crashing into Badisovo or exploding 
against the slope on which we rest. Here again are 
Bussian infantrymen lying down on the reverse slope 
beyond Badisovo, waiting for the word to cross the crest 
and sally down into that valley already littered with so 
many Bussian dead. Here again are the Bussian guns on 
that crest belching their thunder against the Turkish posi- 
tions. Still, through all this turmoil, as through the last, 
the white towers and sparkling roofs of Plevna smile 
serenely in the sunshine. 

" We lie here, hour after hour, and watch the scene. It 
is impossible to.tell the progress of the fight, for it makes 
no progress. Still, hour after hour, the batteries which 
first opened in the morning, blaze away. The batteries on 
the crest above Badisovo fire steadily if less swiftly. The 



516 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



battery on our left hand more slowly still. The Turkish 
shells burst with great clouds of smoke and dust on the 
crest, on the reverse slope and village of Radisovo. The 
Grivitza redoubt holds its own with its fire. Nowhere does 
the Turkish artillery seem in the least degree dominated. 
The village of Eadisovo is blazing at our feet. It has at 
length caught fire after so many hair-breadth escapes. The 
sun sinks, and the situation remains unaltered. Scarcely 
a rifle has been fired to-day, all the work done has been 
with artillery, and the Russian loss is a mere handful. 
Probably the Turkish is not much greater. In every 
material sense Plevna is as far off being taken as ever. 
The Russians are taking two bites at a cherry. Will they 
do it at two?" 

During the night of the 7th, the Russians advanced 
their batteries nearer to the Turkish lines, and a vigorous 
cannonade was, on the morning of the 8th, opened upon 
the Grivitza redoubt from a battery of siege-guns, which, in 
the darkness, had been j^lanted on an elevation close to 
and overhanging Grivitza village. The parapet of the 
Turkish redoubt had been a good deal jagged by the shell- 
fire of the previous day, but the Turks had also been at 
work through the night, and it was now as strong as ever. 
To the right and left, in the rear of this new position the 
original Russian battery of siege-guns swept the valley 
with its fire, reaching the redoubt and intrenched village 
in the central swell, or Turkish first position, which was 
also raked by two or three batteries of field-guns on the 
heights south of Radisovo, held so long by Schahofskoy 
in the previous battle. The Turkish guns were not of 
long range, and had to content themselves with harmlessly 
replying to the Radisovo field-batteries. The firing into 
the Grivitza redoubt was accurate and effective, and several 
times the guns there were silenced for a quarter of an hour, 



THE VILLAGEKS OF GEIVITZA. 



517 



so that the redoubt was more than once supposed to be 
abandoned. The grand assault had been expected on this 
afternoon, and the infantry were all day in position waiting 
for the word of advance, but other counsels prevailed. The 
Emperor, the Grand Duke and Prince Charles, were all 
on the field every day during these cannonades, and in the 
hollow between the batteries the wondering villagers of 
Grivitza, unmoved by the attention they were attracting, 
were quietly treading out their barley on a primitive 
threshing-floor of hardened mud; the men shaking the 
straw, the women driving the ponies round, while innumer- 
able shells are whistling over their heads. On their side, 
the Russian infantry spent the day for the most part lying 
snugly in the hollows behind screens of Indian corn, and 
their only hostile demonstration was to drive back some 
Turks who had advanced in front of their main positions. 
On the Loftcha road the irrepressible Skobeleff was indeed 
engaged in attacking a redoubt, but his operations were 
separate from the main assault, and will be given subse- 
quently. The Russian losses by the artillery-fire were 
heavier than on the preceding day. 

The 9th of September passed without any material 
change of positions or any exciting event on the eastern 
front of Plevna. The Roumanian batteries were pushed 
nearer to the Grivitza redoubt, which was now cannonaded 
from the north-east, east and south. The artillery-fire was 
somewhat languid, both sides having apparently lost that 
lively interest which was at first felt in this long-drawn 
artillery duel. A portion of the siege-guns of the Rus- 
sian great battery were moved southward and planted upon 
the height immediately in front of Radisovo, and Krii- 
dener, with three regiments of the 31st Division, occupied 
that ridge at dusk, to be in readiness for active operations, 
if necessary, on the morrow. On the 10th, the field-guns 



518 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



in the valley over against the Turkish first position on the 
central swell were moved forward, the field-guns on the 
height of Radisovo were brought down the slope into short 
range against the southern flank of the central swell, and 
the great siege-guns took their place on the summit. An- 
other clay was to be given to shell-fire, and the grand 
infantry assault was fixed for the morrow, on the Emperor's 
name-day. Due south of Plevna, the Russian batteries on 
the ridge were shelling the church of that town, which 
had been converted into a powder magazine, Imeritinsky 
was thundering on the extreme Russian left, the Rouma- 
nians on the north had worked around behind Rahovo, and 
were shelling the Turkish intrenched camp on the north- 
ern ridge. Before narrating the impending decisive battle, 
we pause to notice Skobeleff 's operations during these days 
of preparation. 

On the 8th, Prince Imeritinsky and General Skobeleff, 
coming from Loftcha with the 2d and 3d Divisions, occu- 
pied, late in the afternoon, the heights south of Olcagas, 
in the bend of the Sophia road, near the River Vid, and 
Skobeleff made a preliminary attack upon the Turkish in* 
trenchments in the valley below, over against two Turkish 
redoubts on the summits of a double hill, constituting the 
main defenses of Plevna to the south. In their turn, the 
Turks poured out of the redoubts down the hill with intent 
to. drive back the Russians to their position on the heights, 
but the Russians stubbornly maintained their ground near 
the foot of the slope, strengthened themselves by digging, 
and more than once drove back the Turks up the double 
hill to the redoubts. More than this, the Russians did not 
attempt, as it was too late in the day for a formal assault 
upon the redoubts. During the night the Russians re- 
treated to the heights on the Loftcha road, occupied the 
previous day and remained on the defensive. The contest 



THE MORNING OF THE GREAT ASSAULT. 



519 



on the 9th was principally an artillery duel, the Turks 
having advanced during the night and occupied a portion 
of the same ridge, separated from the Russian position only 
by a depression through which passes the Loftcha road. 
A Turkish magazine was exploded during the morning, 
and a vigorous charge by the Turkish infantry was bril- 
liantly repelled by Skobeleff. 

The most eventful day of the whole war had now arrived. 
We shall present, at considerable length, the narrative of 
Mr. Forbes, the more willingly, since it is the last occasion 
on which we have the benefit of his unrivalled descriptive 
powers. The whole of this account, dated on the evening of 
the same day, was transmitecl by telegraph to the Daily Xews : 

"To-day was the fifth day of the bombardment. After 
the thunder of last night the morning broke with rain, 
which settled down into a dense mist through which objects 
were invisible at a distance of one hundred yards. We lost 
our way several times in riding from the place where we 
had snatched a few hours' sleep to our old position on the 
heights in front of Radisovo, which exposed position the 
Artillery-General of the 9th Corps, Colonel Wellesley, a 
Prussian Correspondent and myself, had all to ourselves. 

"Soon after ten almost total silence prevailed, only a 
single report echoing sullenly among the heights at rare 
intervals. There grew somehow uj)on one the impression 
that this was but the calm before the storm. Of this lull 
the Turks jauntily took advantage to come out from behind 
the parapets of the earthworks and stroll about the glacis 
with the utmost nonchalance. Everybody spoke in whis- 
pers, as if afraid or loth to break the universal unnatural 
stillness, interrupted only feebly by the far-off cannonade 
and musketry-fire of Imeritinsky, round on the extreme left, 
near the valley of the Vid. The drizzling fog came down 
again, and veiled alike friend and foe. 



520 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



"At eleven precisely, a furious musketry-fire suddenly 
burst out on our left. We could judge that it came from 
the soldiers pushing their way out of the gap through 
which passes the Loftcha-Plevna road, but the fog hid 
everything from us. Only the sound told us that the 
attack must be on the redoubt on the summit of the isolated 
mamelon, south-east of the town of Plevna. It was im- 
possible to see twenty yards in front of one. Everywhere 
the cannon opened a heavy fire, and their smoke made the 
obscurity denser. It must be the assault at last, and, alas! 
it is invisible. Louder and louder swells the roll of the 
hidden musketry. We reckon that SkobelefT must be at 
work down there on our left, but we can hardly discern 
each other as we lie upon the crest of the ridge. We are 
in the thick of the din, but we might as well have no eyes. 

"It is the most mysterious, weird situation possible to 
conceive. It is impossible to tell how the fighting is going. 
The musketry-fire seems to advance but little, but its roll 
unquestionably swells in volume. The hiddenness of the 
whole thing is intensely torturing, The thick air above 
us, as we are lying down, is torn by the whistle of bullets 
and the yell and scream of shells. In vain we chafe for 
the merest glimpse down into the hollow on our left. The 
thick waves of fog and smoke swathe everything as with a 
huge dingy pall. The Artillery-General is almost mad 
with irritation at his inability to see anything. We can do 
nothing, however, but possess our souls in patience; but as 
the minutes wear on, we can discern by ear that the Rus- 
sians must be gaining ground. It seems to us here at one 
moment, to judge by the sound of the firing and of the 
cheering, that they had actually carried the redoubt on the 
summit of the isolated mamelon. Will they then assail the 
redoubts of the central swell, or make a dash for the town 
of Plevna, or do both? 



REPULSE FROM THE MAMELON. 



521 



"About twelve the fog begins to lift, almost as dramati- 
cally as it fell. "We can see trie line of the Turkish 
northern heights, but the intervening valley is full of dense 
white smoke. Then presently we get a glimpse into, as it 
were, the interstices of smoke, and discern the Russian 
field-batteries in the valley, blazing away with all their 
might at the Turkish first and second positions on the 
central swell, but the fog and smoke still obstinately 
hang round and above those positions. 

" In utter desperation we abandon our position, walk 
westward along the ridge farther to our left, and nearer to 
the fighting just above the western edge of the village of 
Radisovo. I found several batteries of Russian field artil- 
lery, of the 31st Division, in steady action against the first 
and second Turkish positions on the central swell, and only 
a little to the right and rear of the infantrymen, still en- 
gaged in desultory fighting, as evidenced by the mainte- 
nance of a dropping fire. 

" The colonel in command of the battery told us with an 
assumption of indifference, which I am sure was feigned, 
that the fighting dying out was merely forepost work, to 
clear the way for the grand assault against the redoubt on 
the isolated mamelon, which was to be made in the after- 
noon. He may, indeed, have believed what he said, but 
another tale was told, when, for an instant, a sharp eddy of 
wind blew fog and smoke away from the mamelon and 
slopes leading up. There was no fighting there now, but 
with my glass I could discern the Russian dead and 
wounded lying about sadly thick. As for the Turks, some of 
them were dispersed at random in among the wounded on 
the slopes. We could divine their fell purpose. Successive 
bodies of Turks were streaming down the slope of the 
mamelon against the huddled mass of Russians retiring, 
seemingly, on their shelter-trenches athwart the mouth of 



522 



THE COXQTJEST OF TUEKEY. 



the road ravine, and ascending the slopes to our immediate 
right. There could be but one inference, that the Russian 
infantry had unsuccessfully assailed the mamelon redoubt, 
and that its garrison was taking the counter offensive. It 
was also clear that Skobeleff had attacked the redoubt and 
covered way due east from the isolated mamelon. My ar- 
tillery friend stated, further, that all the four-pounders of 
his division had been sent to the left on towards the Sophia 
road, with intent, he believed, to hinder the Turks from 
any attempt to retreat in that direction ; an attempt which 
did not seem to be probable. It was edifying to witness 
the composure with which those soldiers of the battery who 
were off duty slept steadily while the cannon were being 
fired close to their ears, and while the shells were whistling 
over their heads. 

" I spent the greater portion of the afternoon in and 
about the battery on the height directly in front of Eadi- 
sovo. This battery was on the extreme left of Kriidener's 
position, and jjoints its fire partly against the redoubts of 
the first and second Turkish positions and partly against 
the redoubt on the detached mamelon south-east of the 
town. It was this last redoubt which the Russian chiefs 
clearly considered the weakest point of the Turkish posi- 
tion. The heavy firing at eleven o'clock on our left, which 
the artillery colonel told me had been mere forepost work, 
was, in reality, an assault on this redoubt by three regi- 
ments of the 4th Corps, jDushed home in the fog right up 
to the Turkish shelter- trenches outside the ditch of the re- 
doubt. In spite of the spirit with which the attack was 
made it failed, and Kriloff 's men had to fall back up the 
valley traversed by the Loftcha-Plevna road, and on to the 
slopes over against the Turkish redoubt. I also learned 
that a curious order had been given to all the artillery to 
fire each alternate hour hard and gently. 



CHARGE BY RUSSIAN INFANTRY. 



525 



"It was observable from this elevation that the Roumanian 
cannon on our right had actually passed by the Grivitza 
redoubt still held by the Turks, and had come into action 
against the redoubts on the central swell, with the two guns 
left in the Grivitza redoubt as armament, firing into their 
rear. This was gallant but inexplicable till one learned 
that the redoubt and the intrenched camp behind it were 
full of Turkish infantry. To anticipate, let me state that 
these at sundown compelled the Roumanian guns to retire 
in a line with the village of Grivitza. At half-past three 
all the Russian batteries began to fire with great swiftness, 
and continued till it was necessary for the gunners to hold 
their hand, lest the missiles should fall among the Russian 
stormers once more assaulting the redoubt on the detached 
mamelon of which I have already spoken. 

"At four o'clock a mass of infantry in loose order, pre- 
ceded by a skirmishing line, and followed by supports and 
reserves, came up out of the chaussee valley, drove the 
Turks out of their shelter-trenches at the foot of the 
mamelon, and pressed on vivaciously up its southern slope. 
This was a brigade, or thereabouts, of the 16th Division. 
Simultaneously, down the slopes of the heights which are 
a prolongation of that on which we stood, another brigade 
advanced. This one belonged to the 30th Division. The 
brigade crossed the intervening valley at full speed, and 
began to advance up the south-eastern and eastern sections 
of the slope of the mamelon, while on the lower slopes 
they hung somewhat, and it seemed did not quite like the 
work cut out for them. They extended to the right under 
shelter, and then after a moment's lingering the skirmish- 
ing line dashed ^out of shelter and began swiftly to ascend 
the wide natural glacis lying below the redoubt. This 
glacis was already dotted with the dead of the morning. 

"The mass deploying steadily, followed the skirmishers, 



526 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



with the supports behind them, the reserves lying down 
under shelter behind. At that moment the shell-fire from 
the guns of the first and second Turkish positions crashed 
in among the advancing Russians. From tier above tier 
of continuous shelter-trenches lining the outside of the 
ditch of the redoubt streamed a torrent of musketry-fire 
from the Turkish infantry lining them. Still the Russians 
labored doggedly onwards and upwards in the teeth of 
these impediments. But the slope was steep, and the 
ground slippery from the drizzling rain. Just at this mo- 
ment we descried at first a slender column, then heavier, 
on the edge of the reverse slope of the mamelon, making 
for the redoubt from the direction opposite to the Russian 
advance. This proved to be Turkish reinforcements coming 
up to strengthen the garrison of the redoubt. To deal with 
this new enemy on the right flank, the Russians, with 
great promptitude, threw back their right, the soldiers lying 
down and firing into the advancing Turks, while the mass, 
with which the supports had by this time mingled, pressed 
on towards the Turkish shelter-trenches outside the re- 
doubt. 

" Here, for the first time, came ringing back to us, through 
the thick, moist air, the volleys of Russian cheers. That 
the leaders with that cheer actually gained the first Turk- 
ish shelter-trench, I can testify from my own eyesight. 
For about five minutes the fate of the redoubt hung in the 
balance. Then, tortured by the fire on the front and 
flank, the Russians began to fall back, at first slowly, but 
presently at a run. The reserves took no part in the 
attack. 

" The Russians had fallen fast as they advanced. Per- 
haps they fell faster as they retired. The Turkish infantry 
promptly followed up their advantage, sallying out with 
flaming volleys down the slope after the Russians, and 



A LAST EFFOET. 



527 



driving them to the shelter of their own trenches, over 
ground studded with Russian dead and wounded. The 
second assault was thus, like the first, a failure ; and, as the 
dusk was coming on, I anticipated no more fighting for 
the day, and was walking back out of the exposed battery 
to find my horse and ride to such shelter as the battle- 
field affords. The Turkish infantry, regardless of the fire 
of the Russian batteries, were streaming into their redoubts 
for night duty. The artillery-fire was gradually waning. 
Suddenly it swelled again. Yet another desperate effort, 
followed hard on the last, was in course of being made on 
that stubborn, isolated redoubt there. 

" The troops engaged were three fresh regiments, drawn 
from the same divisions as those composing the previous 
attacking force. The previous attack, from the opening to 
the finish, had occupied just half an hour. This one was 
disposed of in the gloaming in a similar manner after 
twenty minutes. The mamelon redoubt of the Turkish 
position remains intact." 

The events of this memorable clay were also described by 
Mr. MacGahan, who had even more favorable opportunities 
than his colleague. We reluctantly omit the earlier por- 
tions of his narrative, but must find l^oom for his magnifi- 
cent picture of Kriloff 's repulse, SkobelefFs capture of the 
double redoubt, and its loss the subsequent day. Nothing 
in the annals of war is more vivid. Early in the day this 
writer had been with General Zotoff on the ridge behind 
Radisovo, whence he had seen the two Turkish attacks 
upon that position, which had been easily repulsed. At 
half-past two in the afternoon he took his stand on the 
portion of the same ridge above the Loftcha road, between 
Krudener's left and SkobelefFs right, and the following is 
what he saw : 

"A little to my right, where General Kriloff attacked 



528 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



the redoubts down near Plevna, invisible from the point 
where my colleague took his stand, the fire had been raging 
with fury for nearly two hours, a steady, continuous roll 
and crash, intermingled with the louder thunder of can- 
non, which filled the air with the uproar of the bullets and 
shells. During all this time there was little to be seen 
along the crest of the Radisovo ridge, where the Russian 
guns could be perceived at work, with figures flitting round 
them, dimly seen through the smoke, strangely magnified 
by the intervention of the fog, until the gunners appeared 
like giants, and the guns themselves, enlarged and distorted 
by the same medium, appeared like huge, uncouth monsters, 
from whose throats at every instant leaped forth globes of 
flame. There were moments when these flashes seemed to 
light up everything around them. Then the guns and 
gunners appeared for an instant with fearful distinctness, 
red and lurid, as though tinged with blood. Then they 
sank back again in shadowy indistinctness. The uproar 
of the battle rose and swelled until it became fearful to 
hear — like the continuous roar of an angry sea beating 
against a rock-bound coast, combined with that of a thun- 
derstorm, with the strange, unearthly sounds heard on 
board a ship when laboring in a gale. 

" This terrible storm of battle continued without ceasing 
for nearly two hours. The Russian guns were pouring 
their fire into the redoubt, and the Russian infantry into 
the trenches, while the attacking columns were advancing 
cautiously, under cover of the smoke and fog and standing 
corn, to get a position as near as possible before making 
the final rush. At about five o'clock the smoke lifted 
again, carried away by a gust of wind. At this moment I 
saw before the redoubt, down near Plevna, a mass of Rus- 
sian solders rise up in a field of Indian corn, and push for- 
ward with a shout. The Turkish fire just then seemed to 



THE CKITICAL MOMENT. 



529 



have been dominated, nearly silenced, by the terrible storm 
of shot and shell poured in by the Russians. The moment 
seemed favorable for the assault. Either the Turks were 
abandoning these redoubts, or they were lying behind the 
parapet awaiting the attack. Which was it? we asked. 
The question was soon answered. The Russian shout 
had scarcely died away when there flashed along the para- 
pet of the redoubt a stream of fire that swayed backwards 
and forwards, while the smoke rose over the redoubt in 
one heavy, white mass. One continuous crash filled the 
air with bullets, from which, to the spectator looking on, it 
did not seem possible for even a rabbit to escape. 

" Into this storm of bullets plunged the Russians, with 
a shout as though of joy, and then disappeared into a little 
hollow, and for the moment were lost to view. Then they 
emerged again, disappeared in the low ground at the foot 
of the glacis, rushing onward as though the bullets were 
but paper pellets ; but, alas ! sadly diminished in number. 
Would it be possible for them to reach the parapet ? Was 
it possible for flesh and blood to break that circle of fire ? To 
me it seemed utterly out of the question. Did but one bullet 
in ten find its billet, not one of these gallant fellows would 
return through that cornfield. While waiting to see them 
emerge from this little hollow, my excitement was so great, 
my hand trembled so, that I could not hold the field-glass to 
my eyes, and, for the moment, was obliged to trust my 
naked vision. They were evidently very near the redoubt. 
A rush might do it. Victory was almost within their 
grasp, but they required a fresh accession of strength ; a 
rush of new men from behind ; another wave coming for- 
ward with new impetus to carry the first up over the glacis; 
a second wave, and perhaps a third, each bringing new im- 
pulsion, new strength. I looked for this wave of reserves. 
I looked to see if reinforcements were coming up — if the 
34 



530 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



general was doing anything to help the gallant fellows 
struggling there against that circle of fire. 

" I looked in vain. My heart sank within me, for I 
saw that all this bravery, all this loss of life, would be use- 
less. While these poor fellows were madly fighting their 
lives away by hundreds in a desperate struggle — when the 
victory was trembling in the balance — not a man was sent 
to help them. They were left to die, overwhelmed, broken, 
vanquished. It was sublime, and was pitiful. I see a few 
of them struggle up the glacis, one by one. They drop. 
They are not followed, and here they come again, a con- 
fused mass of human beings rushing madly back across 
that cornfield, less than half of those who went forward. 
When this disorderly remnant was seen flying back — 
broken, destroyed — two more battalions were sent to pick 
them up and carry them back to the assault. Two more 
battalions ! they might as well have sent a corporal and 
two more men. Two more regiments were what was re- 
quired, and they should have been sent at the moment 
when that mass of men rose up in the cornfield, and went 
on with a cheer. The new troops would have reached the 
glacis just as the assault began to waver, would have carried 
the hesitating mass onward, and all would have gone into 
the redoubt together. Instead of this, General KrilofF 
sent two battalions, and that when it was too late. The 
poor fellows went over the hill singing gayly, and disap- 
peared in the fog and smoke. I could have cried for pity, for 
I knew that most of them went uselessly to simple slaughter. 
It was impossible for these fresh battalions to renew the 
assault with the slightest chance of success. These two 
battalions, like the rest, were doomed to almost certain 
destruction. 

" The fog again settled down over the redoubt, hiding 
Turks and Russians alike. I could tell by that fearful rifle- 




ATTACK OF THE OTtlVITCHA EEDOUBT. 



THE CAUSE OF FAILUKE. 



533 



fire that they were going at it again, and I turned away. Soon 
the cessation of firing told that it was all over ; but the 
second attack was more easily repulsed than the first, and 
I perceived, likewise, that the whole Russian attack made 
from the Radisovo ridge by Kriidener and Kriloff was 
repulsed all along the line. It was inevitable ; I foresaw 
it from the first. The mistake was made and repeated con- 
tinually by the Russians of sending too few men against 
such positions, according to old rules made before breech- 
loading days. In those days a fixed number of men were 
considered enough to carry a position, and sending more 
was only increasing the chances of loss without increasing 
the chances of success ; but the number required to carry 
a position defended by breech-loaders is about four or five 
times as great as against muzzle-loaders — a fact which the 
Russians have not yet learned, but which is all the more 
important when the breech-loaders are in the hands of sol- 
diers like the Turks. 

"I will now relate the events which occurred on the Rus- 
sian extreme left, commanded by Prince Imeritinsky and 
General Skobeleff. Here the attack was conducted in a 
very different manner. While the battle was raging in 
front and to the right of me, it raged with no less fury 
round the redoubts and on the other side of the Loftcha 
road, but up to the moment of the second repulse of Kriloff, 
Skobeleff had not yet made his assault. He had well pre- 
pared the ground, however. At four o'clock he had brought 
down twenty pieces of artillery to the spur of the ridge 
overlooking Plevna. Not more than a thousand yards dis- 
tant from the redoubt I saw an immense volume of smoke 
rising, and heard a terrible thunder, which was not more 
than five or six hundred yards away on my left. It was 
evident that Skobeleff, risking his artillery in this advanced 
position, was determined to make a desperate effort to cap- 
ture the redoubt in front of him. 



534 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



" I have already described the positions here, and now 
only need refer to them to make the description understood. 
The redoubt Skobeleff was attacking was a double redoubt 
in the bend of the Loftcha road, down near Plevna. He 
had advanced his troops down the slope of the mountain to 
within easy range. As the Turks immediately opened fire 
upon him from the redoubt he returned the fire with steadi- 
ness and precision, putting his men under cover as much as 
possible, his cannon pouring a steady stream of shell and 
canister into the redoubt as well. In fact he worked his 
cannon so much that several pieces have been spoiled. 
He had evidently determined to risk everything to capture 
this redoubt, and if Plevna were not taken it would not be 
his fault. For three hours he kept up this fire, and just 
after KrilofPs second repulse, the Turkish fire having 
somewhat relaxed, dominated by the Russian, he thought 
the moment had come for making the assault. 

" He had four regiments of the line and four battalions 
of sharpshooters. Still keeping up his murderous fire, he 
formed under its cover two regiments in the little hollow 
at the foot of the low hill on which was built the redoubt, 
together with two battalions of sharpshooters, not more 
than twelve hundred yards from the scarp. Then placing 
himself in the best position for watching the result, he 
ceased fire and ordered the advance. He ordered the 
assaulting party not to fire, and they rushed forward with 
their guns on their shoulders, with music playing and ban- 
ners flying, and disappeared in the fog and smoke. Sko- 
beleff is the only general who places himself near enough 
to feel the pulse of a battle. The advancing column was 
indistinctly seen, a dark mass in the fog and smoke. 
Feeling, as it were, every throb of the battle, he saw this 
line begin to waver and hesitate. Upon the instant he 
hurled forward a rival regiment to support, and again 



skobeleff's great charge. 



535 



watched the result. This new force carried the mass farther 
on with its momentum, but the Turkish redoubt flamed 
and smoked, and poured forth such a torrent of bullets 
that the line was again shaken. Skobeleff stood in this 
shower of balls unhurt. All his escort were killed or 
wounded, even to the little Kirghiz, who received a bullet 
in the shoulder. Again he saw the line hesitate and 
waver, and he flung his fourth and last regiment, the 
Libansky, on the glacis. Again this new wave carried the 
preceding ones forward, until they were almost on the 
scarp; but that deadly shower of bullets poured upon 
them; men dropped by hundreds, and the result still 
remained doubtful. The line once more wavered and 
hesitated. Not a moment was to be lost, if the redoubt 
was to be carried. 

" Skobeleff had now only two battalions of sharpshooters 
left, the best in his detachments. Putting himself at the 
head of these, he dashed forward on horseback. He picked 
up the stragglers; he reached the wavering, fluctuating 
mass, and gave it the inspiration of his own courage and 
instruction. He picked the whole mass up and carried it 
forward with a rush and a cheer. The whole redoubt was 
a mass of flame and smoke, from which screams, shouts 
and cries of agony and defiance arose, with the deep- 
mouthed bellowing of the cannon, and above all the steady, 
awful crash of that deadly rifle- fire. Skobeleff's sword was 
cut in two in the middle. Then, a moment later, when 
just on the point of leaping the ditch, horse and man rolled 
together to the ground, the horse dead or wounded, the 
rider untouched. Skobeleff sprang to his feet with a shout, 
then with a formidable, savage yell, the whole mass of men 
streamed over the ditch, over the scarp and counter-scarp, 
over the parapet and swept into the redoubt like a hurri- 
cane. Their bayonets made short work of the Turks still 



536 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



remaining. Then a joyous cheer told that the redoubt was 
captured, and that at last one of the defenses of Plevna 
was in the hands of the Russians. 

"Having seen as much as I have seen of the Turkish 
infantry-fire from behind trenches and walls, I thought it 
was beyond flesh and blood to break it — a belief which 
had been strengthened by Kriloff's repulse, which I had 
just witnessed. Skobeleff proved the contrary, but at what 
a sacrifice ! In that short rush of a few hundred yards, 
three thousand men had been left on the hill-side on the 
glacis, the scarp and the ditch — one-fourth of his whole 
force. I believe that Skobeleff looks upon such attacks 
upon such positions as almost criminal, and disapproved 
highly the whole plan of attack on Plevna ; but he believes 
that if an attack is to be made it can only be done in this 
manner, and that, although the loss of men may be great, it 
is better that the loss should be incurred and the victory 
won, than half the loss with a certainty of defeat. Skobeleff 
seems to be the only one among the Russian generals who 
has studied the American war with profit. He knows it 
by heart, and it will be seen by those who have studied the 
great civil war, that in this assault Skobeleff followed the 
plan of the American generals on both sides when attempt- 
ing to carry such positions, to follow up the assaulting 
column with fresh troops without waiting for the first 
column to be repulsed. If the position proves too strong 
for the first column, then reinforcements are at hand before 
they have time to break and run. 

" Skobeleff had the redoubt. The question now was how 
to hold it. It was dominated by the redoubt of Krishine 
on the left already spoken of. It was exposed at the 
Plevna side to the fire of the sharpshooters, and to the 
Turkish forces in the wood bordering on the Sophia road, 
and open to the fire of the intrenched camp. There was 



SHELLING OF THE KEDOUBT. 537 

a cross-fire coming from three different points. At day- 
light next morning the Turks opened fire from all sides. 
The distance from the redoubt at Krishine had, of course, 
been accurately measured, and the guns dropped shells into 
the redoubt with the utmost precision on the exposed sides. 
The back of the redoubt was a solid rock on which it was 
impossible to erect a parapet. All the earth had been used 
for the construction of the parapets on the other side. It 
was evident that the position was untenable, unless the in- 
trenched camp on the other side of the Plevna and the 
Krishine redoubt could be taken. Skobeleff renewed his 
demand for reinforcements made the evening before. Al- 
though his losses had been great, the spirit of his troops 
was so good that with another regiment he was willing to 
undertake to capture the redoubt and the intrenched camp, 
or he would undertake to hold the positions until some- 
thing could be attempted in some other quarter. Could 
one or two more positions be carried during Wednesday, 
say the Krishine redoubt, and one intrenched camp on 
the same ridge as the Grivitza redoubt, the fall of Plevna 
might be considered certain. At sunrise the Turks began 
an attack upon the captured redoubt, and the storm of bat- 
tle again raged with fury here, while all was quiet every- 
where else. The desperate attack of the Turks was re- 
pulsed. Another attack was made, and another repulse ; 
and this .continued all day long, until the Turks had 
attacked and been beaten five successive times. 

"The Russian losses were becoming fearful. General 
Skobeleff had lost, he thinks, 2,000 men in attacking the 
redoubt. By the afternoon he had lost 3,000 more in 
holding it, while his battalions shriveled up and shrank 
away as if by magic. One battalion of sharpshooters had 
been reduced to 160 men. A company which had been 
one hundred and fifty was now forty. An immense uro- 



538 



THE COXQUEST OF TURKEY. 



portion of officers were killed, or wounded only. Only one 
commander of a regiment is alive ; scarcely a head of a 
battalion is left. Two officers of the staff are killed, one 
of whom was Yerastchagin, brother of the great artist. 
Another brother was wounded. General Dobrovolsky, 
commander of sharpshooters, was killed. One officer was 
blown to pieces by the explosion of a caisson. Captain 
Kurapatkin, chief of the staff, standing beside this officer, 
had his hair singed, and suffered a severe contusion. Only 
General Skobeleff himself remained untouched. He seems 
to bear a charmed life. He visited the redoubt three or 
four times during the day, encouraging the soldiers, telling 
them help would soon arrive ; Plevna would soon be taken; 
victory would soon crown their efforts ; telling them it was 
the final, decisive blow struck for their country; for the 
honor and glory of the Russian arms; and they always 
replied with the same cheery shouts, while their numbers 
were dwindling away by hundreds. He again and again 
sent for reinforcements, and again and again informed the 
Commander-in-Chief that the position was untenable. The 
afternoon wore away and no reinforcements came. 

" General Levitsky, as I have been informed, formally 
refused reinforcements, either because he thought the posi- 
tion, in spite of General Skobeleff's representations, was 
tenable, or because he had no reinforcements to give. Gen- 
eral Kriloff, on his own responsibility, sent the remnant of 
a regiment which had attacked the redoubt, which I saw 
rush forward and then back through the Indian cornfield. 
Of the 2,500 there were barely 1,000 left, so it was utterly 
incapable of going into action that day, and even this regi- 
ment arrived too late. General Skobeleff had left the re- 
doubt at four o'clock to go to his tent on a woody hill op- 
posite. He had been there scarcely an hour when he was 
informed that the Turks were again attacking the right 



skobeleff's despair. 



539 



flank on the Loftcha road immediately above Plevna. He 
galloped forward to see, and was met by an orderly with 
the news that the Turks were also attacking the redoubt a 
sixth time. He dashed forward towards the redoubt in 
hopes of reaching it in time, but was met by a stream of 
his own men flying back. They were exhausted by forty- 
eight hours' incessant fighting, and were worn out, hungry 
and dying of thirst and fatigue. Owing to the inactivity 
of the Russians during the day, the Turks had been en- 
abled to collect an overwhelming force, which had made 
one last desperate effort, and had succeeded in driving 
Skobeleff's force out. One bastion was held till the last by 
a young officer, whose name, I regret, I have forgotten, with 
a handful of men. They refused to fly, and were slaught- 
ered to the last man. 

" It was just after this that I met General SkobelefT, the 
first time that day. He was in a fearful state of excite- 
ment and fury. His uniform was covered with mud and 
filth ; his sword broken ; his Cross of St. George twisted 
round on his shoulder ; his face black with powder and 
smoke; his eyes haggard and bloodshot, and his voice 
quite gone. He spoke in a hoarse whisper. I never before 
saw such a picture of battle as he presented. I saw him 
again in his tent at night. He was quite calm and col- 
lected. He said ' I have done my best ; I could do no 
more. My detachment is half destroyed; my regiments 
do not exist'; I have no officers left ; they sent me no rein- 
forcements, and I have lost three guns.' They were three 
of the four guns which he placed in the redoubt upon taking 
it, only one of which his retreating troops had been able to 
carry off. ' Why did they refuse you reinforcements ? ' I 
asked. i Who was to blame V 6 1 blame nobody/ he re- 
plied. « It is the will of God.' " 

While the stirring events already described were occur- 



540 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



ring on the Russian left, on the afternoon of the 11th, the 
Roumanians were making a series of assaults upon the 
Grivitza redoubt, which at last resulted in success. The 
following narrative is by the companion of Mr. Forbes, 
writing under date of September 12th : 

"At half-past two P. M., the redoubt was attacked by 
two Roumanian brigades, each consisting of four battalions, 
and three battalions of Russians. The Roumanians at- 
tacked from the east and south-east, the Russians from the 
south and south-west. The attack was made in the follow- 
ing manner : First, a line of skirmishers, with men carry ^ 
ing scaling ladders, gabions and fascines among them. 
The latter had their rifles slung on their backs, and were 
ordered in no case to fire, but merely to run forward, fill up 
the ditch and place their ladders behind. Then followed 
the second line in company column formation for the at- 
tack, followed by the third line to support the assault. 

" By some mistake the Russians arrived half an hour too 
late. The assault was repulsed, and all retired except two 
companies of infantry, which rallied and, keeping under 
cover, maintained a brisk fire against the work. 

"At half-past five, the attack was renewed by a bat- 
talion of the Roumanian Militia, followed by two Russian 
battalions of the 17th and 18th Regiments. The redoubt 
was then carried, and the Turks withdrew to the other 
redoubt, a little to the north of the captured work. But 
it was soon apparent that the redoubt could not be held 
without reinforcements, and three Roumanian battalions, 
with a battery of artillery, were ordered forward. They 
lost their way, however, in the fog, and were thus precluded 
from rendering the required assistance, consequently, when 
the Turks returned to the attack, the allies were driven out. 

" The third assault soon followed, and the work was 
finally captured at seven P. M. Four guns and a standard 



INTERIOR OF GRIVITZA REDOUBT. 541 



were the trophies of the feat of arms. More than once 
during the night did the Turks advance with shouts of 
'Allah ! ' but no serious attack was made. 

" This morning I made my way up through the village 
of Grivitza towards the redoubt. Between me and the 
redoubt, a distance of about six hundred yards, there was 
a small Roumanian battery, and for this I ran at speed, 
the ground I traversed being literally strewn with dead 
Roumanians and Russians. The fire seemed to become 
heavier as I neared the battery, which, however, I reached 
in safety. There was nothing for it now but to commence 
running again as soon as I had caught my breath in 
the little battery. The Roumanian officers squatting in 
the entrance of the redoubt shouted to me to run in their 
direction. This I did, and was thankful when, in rushing 
in among them, and picking my way through the dead, 
they pulled me down to the ground and made me squat 
beside them for security against the continuous shower of 
lead. 

" I had now time to look about me, and examine the 
work. It has a ditch all around it, and the parapets are high 
and thick. The only entrance, curiously enough, is a nar- 
row opening facing to the south, it having been constructed 
for defense towards the north. Presently I asked leave to 
enter the redoubt, which was granted with the advise to 
make a bolt of it, as there was a dangerous corner to pass. 
This I did, and pray I may be spared ever again witnessing 
the sight which met my eyes. 

" The interior of this large work was piled up not only 
with dead, but with wounded, forming one ghastly undis- 
tinguishable mass of dead and living bodies, the wounded 
being as little heeded as the dead. The fire had hindered 
the doctors from coming up to attend to the wounded, and 
the same cause had kept back the wounded-bearers. There 



542 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



were not even comrades to moisten the lips of their wretched 
fellow-soldiers, or give them a word of consolation. There 
they lie writhing and groaning. I think some attempt 
might have been made, at whatever risk, to aid these poor 
fellows, for they were the gallant men who, twenty-four 
hours before, had so valiantly and successfully struggled 
for the conquest of that long-uncaptured redoubt, and it 
was sad now to see them dying without any attempt being 
made to attend to them. 

" I could fill pages with a description of this harrow- 
ing scene and others near it which I witnessed, but the task 
would be equally a strain on my own nerves and on those 
of your readers. I am aware that Colonel Wellesley, the 
English military attache, having visited this redoubt and 
witnessed the spectacle it presented, spoke of it to a Rou- 
manian officer, who explained that the doctors were obliged 
to take cases in the order of their occurrence, and since 
the Roumanians had suffered not a little two days before, 
the doctors had still not been released from their attention 
upon those early cases. 

" In the centre of the redoubt is a kind of traverse and a 
curious-covered corridor runs around it. In this, I imagine, 
the Turks sought protection from the shells which fell into 
it unintermittently for so many days before its capture. An 
incessant rain of bullets poured over the work as I made 
my way over the bodies on the ground. I was naturally 
deeply interested to know whence the Turks were firing, 
and having reached the parapet, I crawled up, and, taking 
off my cap, peeped over. To my immense astonishment, 
I saw another Turkish redoubt not more than two hundred 
and fifty yards from us, to the north-west, from which this 
fire was being maintained. The Roumanians, it appears, 
had failed to capture this redoubt yesterday ; but it is ab- 
solutely necessary that they should become masters of it, 




BATTLE-FIELD AFTEK THE PLEVNA FIGHT. 




CARTING OFF THE DEAD AND WOUNDED FROM PLEVNA. 



THE LOSSES BEFOEE PLEVNA. 



543 



as their position is rendered almost untenable by its remain- 
ing in the hands of the Turks. 

"The Kussians estimate their losses on the 11th at 125 
officers and 5,000 men. I estimate the Grivitza losses at 
about 1,500 killed and wounded.'' 



CHAPTEE XVIII. 



THE CAMPAIGN" ON THE LOM. 

Of all the armies of the Sultan, the one from which the 
most had been expected may be said to have accomplished 
the least — namely, that known as " the Army of the Lorn," 
comprising the forces ranging from Pustchuk to Easgrad, 
thence to Osman Bazar, and eastward to Shumla. This 
army, under the personal command of the Serdar Ekrem, or 
Commander-in-Chief, was expected to take the offensive 
against that Grand Division of the Russian Army known 
as the Army of Pustchuk, commanded by the Czar e witch, 
and, with the aid of Suleiman Pasha, to cut off the latter 
from the Danube, relieving Pustchuk directly and Plevna 
indirectly — in short, to bring to nought the Russian offen- 
sive campaign. Abd-ul Kerim Pasha was, as we have seen, 
the original commander, but his proved incapacity had led 
to his removal, July 19th, when he had been sent to Mity- 
lene to await trial by court-martial, and Mehemet Ali had 
been made his successor. The latter was a German by 
birth, being a native of Magdeburg, named Jules Detroit, 
who began life as a sailor-boy, and owed his career in 
Turkey to the patronage of the celebrated Grand Vizier 
Ali Pasha, into whose household he had been admitted. 
He had rendered effective service in Servia and Mon- 
tenegro, his bravery and capacity were indisputable, 
while his apparently excessive prudence was possibly justi- 
fiable under the circumstances. 

544 



TOPOGKAPHY OF THE LOM VALLEY. 



545 



The better to understand the operations of the opposing 
armies on the Lorn, let us examine the topography of the 
disputed region properly designated "the valley of the 
Lorn," and note the disposition of the respective armies 
and their strength, as nearly as these can be determined, 
July 20th. 

The valley of the Lorn is broad and open, with the 
river winding about in a fertile interval between very high 
hills, for the most part covered with a dense growth of 
scrub oak, quite impassable, except by frequent cart-paths, 
which cross them in all directions. The valley is much 
broader, and the hills are higher on the upper part of the 
river towards Popkoi, while near Bustchuk the river runs 
between steep cliffs in a gorge-like bed. It is a stream 
scarcely more than a rod wide, while its branches — the 
Banitzka-Lom and the Ak-Lom — are rivulets a yard or two 
broad only, and are crossed at frequent intervals by bridges 
and fords. West of the Kara-Lorn and the Banitzka-Lom 
the hills are broad and flat-topped, with little wood, and 
the Tirnova-Bustchuk chaussee runs along the summits in 
a straight line north-east to Bustchuk. From this chaussee, 
one can overlook the whole country, and the Bussian camps 
are all visible, nestled in the grain-fields near the villages. 

East of the Lorn the country is quite similar in charac- 
ter, but more broken by small valleys, and near Basgrad 
is much wooded. Between the Kara-Lorn and Banitzka- 
Lom is a plateau of irregular horseshoe form, full of vil- 
lages, interrupted by frequent deep valleys ; but in general 
terms a high plateau. This was entirely occupied by the 
Turks in their advance, but they penetrated among the hills 
farther west at only one or two points, and confined their 
demonstrations to the positions along this line. The small 
ridges with the patches of woodland formed a succession of 
screens, behind which it was easy to manoeuvre large forces 
35 



546 



THE CONQUEST OF TTJEKEY. 



without their being seen by the enemy, and the network of 
roads, more or less good, made concentration at different 
points an easy matter. There were the two armies facing 
one another across a valley perhaps half a mile wide ; the 
foreposts kept up an almost constant guerilla fight ; several 
attacks would be made of more or less importance, and 
then suddenly nothing would remain on the hill-tops but 
empty straw huts and bush shelters, and the Cossacks 
would leisurely wander off to find where the Turks were 
gone. 

We have already spoken above of the general alignment 
of the Turkish forces ; it included the important fortress 
of Rustchuk, the strongly-intrenched Basgrad, some thirty 
miles eastward of the Lom, Osman Bazar which was but 
partially protected by earthworks, and the well-known 
stronghold of Shumla ; the right, commanded by Eyoub 
Pasha, consisted of about 40,000 men exclusive of the 
force within Bustchuk, and the left, under Mehemet Ali 
himself, comprised about 60,000 men, available for field 
operations, besides the garrisons of Rasgrad and Shumla. 
Thus, it would appear that Mehemet Ali had directly 
at command an aggregate force of about 100,000 men, 
exclusive of the garrisons of the several forts, and without 
alliance with Suleiman Pasha — these figures we find in 
General McClellan's article in the North American Review, 
No. 259 ; we do not know his authority, but have given 
them in the absence of others, though we feel assured that 
they are somewhat exaggerated. 

The so-called "Army of Bustchuk," as we have seen, 
originally comprised the 12th and 13th Corps, commanded 
respectively by Generals Vannoffsky and Hahn ; General 
Vannoffsky appears to have been removed, for towards the 
close of July, the Archduke Vladimir is mentioned by Mr. 
Forbes and by Mr. Boyle as the commander of the 12th; 



THE FIRST FIGHT ON THE LOM. 



547 



the aggregate of this army, Mr. Forbes states, was not 
more than 70,000, while there were but 40,000 actually 
fronting the field-forces of the Turkish Army of the Lorn. 
The extreme left of the Russian line was at Pirgos, whence 
it extended along the Rustchuk-Tirnova road to Biela 
where it curved to the south-east, terminating at or near 
Yaslar; at Pirgos communication had been opened with 
the Roumanian shore, by means of pontoons. At two or 
three points eastward of their actual line, the Russians had 
small bodies of men, usually cavalry; one of these was 
Kosova, at the point where the Ak-Lom unites with the 
Kara-Lorn. Here were detachments from the 8th and 12th 
Cavalry Divisions, with two or three guns and two bat- 
talions of infantry. 

We come now to the beginning of hostilities on what 
may be called the Lorn line; at the first movement of the 
Russians, after the capture of Nicopolis, to establish this 
line, there were two or three insignificant skirmishes, the 
Turks falling readily back to the eastern side of the Lorn 
without seriously contesting the ground. From this time 
everything continued quiet until the 20th of July, whence 
may be dated the commencement of "the campaign on 
the Lorn." 

Within cannon-shot of Kosova, lies the village of Kadi- 
koi, where, the Russians had reason to believe, there was a 
considerable force of Turks; to test the fact, they opened 
fire with one gun, but the Turks were shrewd enough to 
reply with but one, no doubt to deceive their enemy, as 
they did; the Russians rashly concluded that the opposing 
force must be small, and sent two squadrons of dragoons 
across; having crossed the Ak-Lom and advanced but a 
short distance, they were beset by an overwhelming number 
of Circassians, who had been lying in ambush, but who 
now assailed them with great fury; there was but one thing 



548 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



for the dragoons to clo — to fight their way back ; the Cir- 
cassians, rash in their turn, followed across the river, too 
eager in the pursuit to observe a battalion of infantry that 
had followed the dragoons to the bank, until these had 
wheeled into an intercepting line along the stream and 
poured a most destructive fire into their rear; the Circas- 
sians now fled and succeeded in recovering the eastern 
bank, but not without suffering a larger loss than they 
had inflicted. 

The next day, the Archduke Vladimir conducted a re- 
coil noissance towards Kadikoi, taking a squadron of dra- 
goons, a squadron of Cossacks and a battalion of infantry ; 
meeting no enemy, he went cautiously into the village, but 
found it deserted ; encouraged by the flight of the Turks, 
he now made a bold dash at the railroad connecting Rust- 
chuk and Varna ; leaving the dragoons and infantry as a 
reserve, to follow slowly, he led the Cossacks through 
Buzim to the Guvemli Station, where they burned the 
depot buildings, tore up the tracks and blew up with 
dynamite an adjacent bridge, thus cutting the railway com- 
munication between Rustchuk and Sbumla. Other recon- 
noissances were made from day to day, but none that were 
noteworthy, except that they discovered throughout the 
region of Rustchuk, and everywhere in the valley of the 
Lorn, evidences of the brutal instincts of the Turks ; we 
use the word Turks intentionally, for if it be true, as 
charged by the Ottoman government and its English ad- 
mirers, that the butchery of unarmed and defenseless Bul- 
garians, men, women and children, was perpetrated exclu- 
sively by the Bashi-Bazouk fiends and other " irregulars/' 
it must be equally true that the " regulars," including the 
officers from the lowest to the highest grades, nay, even the 
home government, to some extent, connived at, if they did 
not actually sanction, these barbarities. We have already 



TURKISH BARBARITIES IN THE LOM VALLEY. 549 

spoken at some length of the massacres south of the Bal- 
kans, and would gladly avoid further allusion to the hor- 
rible facts, but the repetitions of the same fiendish horrors 
in the region and valley now under consideration compel 
us to revert to the theme. We could give pages, nay, 
chapters, of sickening details, but having no stomach for 
them, and presuming that our readers share our distaste for 
such details, we give but a short extract from Mr. Forbes's 
letter of July 22d : 

" There can be no doubt that the Turks, having behaved 
very well during their retreat so far from Sistova, and 
throughout this portion of Bulgaria generally, have at 
length given rein to their fury against the Bulgarian in- 
habitants of the Lorn Valley. The evidence is over- 
whelming that this is so. I am not fond of accepting hear- 
say evidence in such matters, and habitually allow a good 
deal of margin for exaggeration. But when villages are 
entered with slaughtered men, women and children lying 
about among the ashes of their houses ; when Bulgarian 
husbandmen are found dead in the fields, shot apparently 
while laboring at their daily toil ; when at the well, close 
to which I am writing, a Bulgarian was found desperately 
wounded, with the cross scored by transverse sword-cuts 
on his forehead ; when eye-witnesses tell me all this, I am 
bound to believe them. There is a village called Kacel- 
yevo [subsequently the scene of the battle of September 
5th] some distance up the Lorn. In this village was lying 
Colonel Bilderling, commanding a regiment of dragoons of 
Arnoldi's brigade. He left the village on a reconnoissance 
down the river, and there were then in it about a hundred 
live Bulgarian villagers — men, women and children. 
During his absence, a detachment of Turks, whom the 
Bulgarians who escaped reported to have been under the 
command of a superior officer, entered the village. Most 



550 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



of the helpless inhabitants fled for refuge into the church, 
which is a large and handsome edifice. The door of it was 
broken open by order of the officer commanding the Turks, 
who entered, and slew, and spared not one of the unfortu- 
nate inmates. Not a soul who had taken refuge in the 
church escaped. Bilderling came back at night to find 
Kacelyevo empty and desolated, and its church a shamble. 
Then a few people who had not gone into the church, but 
had sought hiding-places in the gardens round the village, 
came in scared and trembling, and told him what had hap- 
pened as far as they knew. For the rest, the spectacle in 
the church told its own story. My informant is Colonel 
Bilderling himself/' 

The same letter contains other similar illustrations of 
Turkish humanity, but we cannot quote more. It also 
contains, however, much information that is pleasant and 
valuable to read, as well as some timely criticisms of the 
Russian and Turkish commanders ; of the latter we give a 
specimen chip: 

" Just at present were the enemy any other than the 
Turk, a fine chance seems to offer itself to enterprising 
leaders of delivering a telling counter-attack athwart the 
line of the Russian communications. A cavalry force 
crossing from Silistria to Kalarash might strike into Rou- 
mania, destroy the village and do incalculable damage, and 
that with but little opposition, for the Russians seem to 
have left Roumania strangely bare of troops. But from 
the Turks a raid of this kind is not to be expected, and the 
Russians seem to have accepted what is said to have been 
Prince Bismarck's advice, and put all their eggs into the 
basket which they have so successfully carried across the 
Balkans." 

On the 26th of July, it was expected that "the Army of 
the Rustchuk" would commence a general movement. 



MEHEMET ALI PASHA WAKING UP. 



551 



The 11th Corps, commanded by Prince Schahofskoy, had 
crossed the Danube at Sistova, and, having been ordered to 
co-operate with the Czarewitch, was on the march in the 
direction of Shumla, and had already made progress in 
that direction nearly to the Upper Lorn, when the mis- 
chance, at Plevna, to a portion of the 9th Corps arrested 
the advance and Prince Schahofskoy received orders to 
march across the country from east to west, and co-operate 
with the 9th Corps in renewed operations against Plevna, 
the 9th Corps marching southward from the direction of 
Nicopolis. 

We have elsewhere given a somewhat detailed account 
of the occurrences around Plevna, south of the Balkans 
and in the Shipka Pass, at the close of July and during 
August. The Russians and Turks along the Lorn alike 
appeared for a spell utterly oblivious of the proximity of 
an enemy. But, while the Russians, as though paralyzed 
by the unexpected reverses both at Plevna and in the 
Tundja Valley, contented themselves with short incursions 
into the Turkish lines, seemingly without object or result, 
Mehemet Ali was by no means idle : he had sent peremp- 
tory orders to Suleiman Pasha to push through the Balkans 
and come into a position to co-operate with the main army 
in a proposed advance. For some unexplained cause, 
Suleiman, who had a fine army of 20,000 veterans which 
he had brought by ship from the Montenegrin coast to 
Rodosto, on the sea of Marmora, and thence by rail to 
Adrianople and Eski-Zagra, disregarded the orders of the 
Commander-in-Chief and remained on the south of the 
range prosecuting his fruitless efforts to drive the Russians 
from the Shipka Pass, though it would appear from Mr. 
Forbes's letter of August 22d, that he had made some sort 
of an effort to obey the orders ; he says: "From the Tundja 
Valley on the same day (16th), a column of Suleiman 



552 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Pasha's force attempted strenuously to force the Hainkoi 
Pass. * * * * A Turkish column did, indeed, force 
its way into the defile, but was there so roughly handled by 
the Russian artillery in position, and by a regiment of the 
9th Division holding the pass, that it was compelled to re- 
tire." But had he seriously desired to obey, Suleiman 
could readily have gone through at Slievno or above, as the 
Russians had not any force above Hainkoi Pass. It 
is perfectly evident that Suleiman did not wish to go where 
he would be directly subordinate, but was determined to 
win glory for himself in a quasi-independent command. 
At length, finding that Suleiman was not coming to his assist- 
ance, Mehemet Ali determined to assume the offensive 
without him. 

On August 16th, the Turks made a demonstration all 
along the line, from Rustchuk to Osman Bazar; this was 
possibly a mere demonstration, designed chiefly to ascer- 
tain the salient point or points of the enemy's line ; if such 
were his purpose, it is remarkable that he permitted an 
entire week to pass by without striking a blow. The 
probability is strong that the movements here, in the 
Balkans and at Grivitza, almost synchronous as they were, 
were parts of a general plan to prevent any attempt of the 
Russians to concentrate their army to any extent at one 
point — if so, it was the first and last instance during the 
war in which the Turks gave evidence of a unified plan 
and concert of action. Be this as it may, on the 23d, 
Mehemet Ali made a vigorous assault on the Russian posi- 
tion at Yaslar, on the Upper Kara-Lorn, and forced the 
Russians to retire thence, to Sultankoi, about four miles 
northward, but, as usual, the Turks failed to follow up this 
advantage, leaving the Russians undisturbed for six days. 
On the 29th, however, the Turks made a demonstration 
near both ends of the Lorn line, at Kara-Hassankoi and at 



FIGHTING ALL ALONG THE LINE. 



553 



Kadikoi; at the former the Russians had but a small de- 
tachment, which retreated across the Kara-Lorn and south- 
ward to Popkoi, where there was a considerable force; 
Kadikoi was occupied only by a Cossack regiment of the 
12th Division, which withdrew in the face of superior 
force, and the Turks occupied it. Later in the day, how- 
ever, they were attacked by the Ukraine infantry regiment 
of the 12th Division, which, the Archduke Vladimir 
reports, drove them out and forced them to retire under the 
guns of the Rustchuk position. 

Commencing on the 30th and continuing on the 31st 
there was general fighting along the front of the centre 
and right flank army of the Czarewitch from Nisova on 
the Ak-Lom southward over Solenik, Gagovo, Sultankoi, 
Popkoi, Mehemedkoi and beyond, in front of Osman Bazar. 
Here, it is believed, Mehemet Ali Pasha was personally in 
command. Great masses of Turks everywhere drove in the 
Russian fore-post line. The Russians abandoned the Pop- 
koi position, on account of its ineligibility, being com- 
manded by higher ground within cannon range. 

On the 5th of September, Ahmed Eyoub Pasha in- 
flicted upon the Russians, at Katzelyevo, the severest defeat 
which they suffered during the entire Lorn movements; 
but on the same day the Russians were victorious at Ab- 
lava, Opaka, and at the new position near Popkoi, repel- 
ling a severe assault at each point. The Czarewitch now 
finding that it was impossible that he should receive the 
suj)port that had been promised him from Prince Schahof- 
skoy, whose corps was imperatively needed on the Plevna- 
Loftcha line, determined to draw in his lines, making 
Kairkoi his extreme southern post, but in doing so he left 
a dangerous gap between Kairkoi and the Kara-Lorn, 
through which a more adventurous enemy than the Turks 
would have readily turned his flank, and either have fallen 



554 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



upon his rear, or, leaving him quietly in his line, have 
quickly crossed the country to Tiraova, where there was a 
most tempting opening for a severe blow, in consequence 
of the Russians having their attention almost entirely en- 
grossed by the Plevna-Loftcha and Shipka Pass operations. 
The Turks made the utmost possible capital out of their 
trifling successes along the Lorn, by announcing them as 
great victories, while the Russians were even more foolish 
in underestimating, not so much the extent of their actual 
reverses there as the peril to which they exposed them- 
selves by making even those slight reverses possible. 

In this connection, a glance away, in a measure, from 
the Lorn theatre, at the general condition and aspect of the 
war, in Bulgaria, at this time, between September 12th 
and we may say the end of October, appears opportune. 

The Russians had lost more than 20,000 men, by the 
unfortunate and ill-advised series of attacks upon Plevna, 
between September 7th and September 12th. Once more it 
became necessary to await the arrival of reinforcements ; 
and the expectation of concluding the war in a single cam- 
paign had to be definitely abandoned. The prestige of the 
Russian Empire had suffered a rude check throughout 
Europe, and that of Turkey had gained in a correspond- 
ing degree. Instead of the traditional " sick man," those 
numerous critics, who have a keen eye for paradox, now 
discerned, on the Bosphorus, a rising giant, who might 
fairly be expected, now that his hand was in, to crush the 
defeated Russian armies in Bulgaria, cut them off from the 
Danube, capture the whole train of Muscovite princes and 
grand dukes in a " Russian Sedan," and pursue the dis- 
comfited remnants of the invading host beyond the Pruth. 

It was natural that Alexander and his staff should be 
profoundly discouraged for the moment, but neither de- 
spondency nor irresolution are Romanoff characteristics, 



TODLEBEN CALLED TO THE SEAT OF WAE. 555 

still less the acceptance of defeat. The Czar never wavered 
for an instant in the prosecution of his fixed purpose, and 
made immediate preparations for a winter campaign. 
Large reinforcements were again called for, and the final 
victory was never doubted. The errors of the previous 
plan of campaign were at last comprehended, the incapables 
of the general staff were quietly shelved, and the great 
Russian engineer officer, Todleben, who had conducted the 
defense of Sebastopol twenty -three years before, was sum- 
moned from his retirement and charged with the conduct 
of siege operations before Plevna. A military railway from 
Fratesti to Simnitza was rapidly constructed, steam ice- 
boats, for keeping the Danube open in winter, were ordered, 
and contracts closed for warm clothing and housing for the 
troops during a winter campaign. The Romanian Army 
had suffered very severely, every family-circle in Bucha- 
rest seemed to have lost some of its members ; but the 
"modern Dacians" had attested their valor, and, in the 
general repulse, no blame could attach to them. They per- 
sisted in pushing their approaches towards the second 
Grivitza redoubt by trenches. 

General Kriloff was given command of the cavalry and 
directed to operate on the rear of Plevna, chiefly on the 
Sophia road, to prevent the arrival of reinforcements, but 
by strange mischance or fatuity on his part, large supply 
trains more than once entered the besieged town without 
firing a shot, A convoy of 2,000 wagons, accompanied 
by reinforcements consisting of 15 battalions of infantry, 
three regiments of cavalry and a battery of artillery, the 
whole, under the command of Hifzi Pasha, left Orkhanieh 
September 21st, and reached Plevna two days later. Gen- 
eral Kriloff did not perceive their approach until they 
reached Teliche, some twelve miles west of Plevna, where 
Hifzi intrenched himself, and Kriloff, being without in- 



556 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



fantry, was unable to attack. He retired upon Dubnik, 
where Hifzi attacked him with artillery the following day, 
and he had to fall back to Tirstenik, leaving the road open 
to his antagonists, while General Lascaroff, who had come 
up from the south, retreated to Bogot. The whole affair, 
according to the opinion of Mr. MacGahan, who was 
present, was very feebly managed. Kriloff was not a cav- 
alry man at all, and had none of the instincts of a Sheri- 
dan or a Skobeleff. He handled his cavalry as if it were 
infantry, was constantly afraid of being cut off, and attached 
great importance to keeping his communications open. He 
was, moreover, fettered by his instructions, which were to 
hold the Sophia road at Dubnik, a task which was evidently 
impossible as against infantry, at a point so near Plevna, 
where an attack from the rear was so easy. He should 
have been allowed to operate freely upon any point of the 
Sophia road, and have attacked the convoys on emerging 
from the Orkhanieh Pass, keeping up a running fight, if 
necessary, up to the gates of Plevna. As it was, Kriloff had 
no sooner allowed Hifzi Pasha to escape him than another 
convoy slipped through the fingers of the two Cossack 
regiments he had stationed at Dolni-Etropol on the west of 
the Vid. 

The Roumanians made a formal assault upon the second 
Grivitza redoubt September 18th, and were repulsed with 
considerable loss. Nothing daunted, they pushed forwards 
their parallels with such vigor, that had the Russians dis- 
played similar energy, Plevna might have fallen early in 
October instead of holding out until December. The 
Turks, on their side, pushed out counterworks against the 
Roumanian advance, and, as afterwards appeared, mined 
the redoubt itself, as a measure of offense in case it should 
be captured. 

The operations of Suleiman Pasha in the Shipka Pass 



TURKISH " VICTORIES." 



557 



had been paralyzed by want of men since August 27th, 
and it was not until September 17th that he had received 
sufficient reinforcements to warrant his renewal of the 
attack. On that day, he made his final onslaught upon 
Fort St. Nicholas, as the Russians called their central posi- 
tion at the summit of the pass. For a moment he pene- 
trated within the Russian stronghold where he maintained 
himself long enough to send an exulting telegram to the 
Sultan, but the Russians were not driven away and he was 
presently repulsed with great loss. 

As a faint indication of the extravagance of the Turk- 
ish representations of the "victories" on the Lorn, we pre- 
sent an extract from a letter of the correspondent of the 
London Times, appearing in that paper September 17th. 
The strong Turkish proclivities of the Times are generally 
well-known, but those not aware of it need but recollect 
that it is ever studiously careful to be on the popular side 
in every controversy; when we add that the correspondent 
was at the Turkish head-quarters, it will be understood that 
he but echoes the vaunts of the Turkish officers; in read- 
ing of these "victories/' let it be borne in mind that the 
Sultan showed his actual appreciation of them by removing 
Mehemet Ali from the command-in-chief and sending him 
to a point where he could not repeat them : 

" The operations on the Lom, commenced by the Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the Turkish Army, led to the battle of 
Kara-Hassankoi on the 30th ultimo, and to that of Katzely evo 
on the 5th instant. , These two Turkish victories caused 
the Russians to abandon the right bank of the Lom, and 
there soon, also, followed a general retrograde movement 
of the Russian forces from the left bank towards the 
Yantra. * By the 7th all the important Russian positions 
on the other side of the Lom, opposite Katzelyevo and at 
Popkoi, were voluntarily abandoned, and it seemed the in- 



558 



THE CONQUEST OF TTJKKEY. 



tention of the enemy to concentrate the forces at his dis- 
posal in this quarter of the seat of war at Biela. The corps 
commanded by Achmet Eyoub Pasha was stationed at 
Katzelyevo ; that under Prince Hassan on the' line between 
Kara-Hassankoi and Sarnasuflar, his advanced post taking 
up ground on the left bank of the Lorn. Before, however, 
proceeding to more detailed description of these operations, 
I may enumerate the advantages accruing to the Turkish 
Army from their possession of the line of this river. 
First, there is the acquisition by the Turks of a very con- 
siderable tract of country which had been in part actually 
occupied, in part constantly menaced, by the enemy. Sec- 
ondly, the success at Kara-Hassankoi secured to the Turks 
a position of the greatest consequence for the protection of 
Rasgrad and Eski-Djuma. Thirdly, the possibility was 
created of pushing operations as far as the Yantra. Lastly, 
there must not be left out of account the gain to the morale 
of the Ottoman troops from this victory. ***..* 

" To judge from the general position of our forces on the 
7th, I do not believe it was the intention of the Turkish 
commanders to push operations towards the Yantra. They 
seemed disposed to rest satisfied for the present with the 
partial advantages they had gained, and which were rather 
moral than military, and wait composedly for a more favor- 
able opportunity to resume the offensive. This policy, 
however, was suddenly changed by intelligence which 
Mehemet Ali received of the dangerous situation in which 
Osman Pasha found himself after the occupation of Loft- 
cha by the Russians. The latter had cut off communica- 
tion with Osman Pasha, and were aiming, by means of a 
victorious attack on Plevna, to precipitate a Turkish dis- 
aster. This crisis at once suggested to the Turks a con- 
centrated advance of the forces on the Lorn line in the 
direction of Biela, in order to divert the enemy's strength 



TUEKISH "PLANS." 



559 



from the line of Loftcha-Plevna, and consequently relieve 
the threatened army. The hest measures were at once 
adopted in Constantinople," etc. 

" To assist, therefore, in the deliverance of Osman Pasha 
from the above predicament, to divert a part of the enemy's 
strength from Plevna, and, if possible, by a decisive vic- 
tory to re-establish the good fortunes of the Turks, Me- 
hemet Ali resolved to push his oj^erations from the Lorn 
towards the Yantra. 

" The plan of the forward movement was : The corps 
commanded by Prince Hassan and Achmet Eyoub Pasha 
were to march in the direction of Cherkovna and Osikova, 
there form a junction, and then proceed to operate against 
Biela. The advance accordingly began on the 12th, the 
corps under Prince Hassan taking the way of Popkoi, 
Kopatze and Yoditza. On the 13th the advance guard 
reached Kopatze, and on the other side of that place en- 
countered four of the enemy's battalions, occupying the 
heights to the north. A short but violent engagement 
ensued between the advance guards of the two bodies, Cir- 
cassians and Cossacks taking a part in it. On the evening 
of the same day the corps encamped between Yoditza and 
Kopatze, occupying the plateau to the north and the heights 
to the south of Kopatze, the head-quarters being to the 
west of the latter place, and the advance guard being 
pushed forward to within three miles of Yoditza. 

" The corps commanded by Achmet Eyoub Pasha also 
began its march on the 12th, the main body going by way 
of Orendjik and Yenidjesi. To cover the right flank of 
this corps, the division under Asov Pasha, consisting of 
eighteen battalions, was dispatched by way of Stroko to 
Sinankoi, there to take up a position. On the 13th, the 
bulk of Achmet Eyoub Pasha's corps entered Yenidjesi, 
and soon effected a junction with the troops of Prince Has- 



560 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



san, occupying the plateau to the north of Voditza. At 
Sinankoi, on the 13th, the division under Asov Pasha 
encountered the enemy in comparatively weak numbers, 
and, after a short engagement, repulsed him. On the 14th, 
.the main army remained in position, only making a slight 
redistribution of their forces. The same day, about noon, 
Asov Pasha's division, stationed at Sinankoi, was attacked 
by a large detachment of the 12th Russian Corps. A 
furious engagement ensued, lasting six hours, and resulting 
in a somewhat disorderly retreat by the Russians across 
the Banitzka-Lom. Asov Pasha, too, up till to-day, has 
maintained the positions he won. In the course of the 
14th, there were numerous trifling engagements between 
reconnoitering bodies along the whole front, these encoun- 
ters being mainly caused on the part of the Russians by 
the endeavor to re-establish the feeling with the enemy 
which they had partly lost by their retreat from the Upper 
Lorn and Katzelyevo, consequent on their defeat at the latter 
place. After six P. M. of the 14th, four battalions march- 
ing from Cherkovna made an attack on the Turkish outposts 
to the west of Voditza. Several Turkish battalions went 
out against them, and an angry infantry contest arose, 
lasting almost till midnight, when the Russians retreated. 
The Turks lost 150 wounded, but the number of their 
dead was not ascertained. 

This, of course, suggests the question whether the whole 
forward movement of the Turks was not a mistake, and 
whether it would not have been more to their purpose to 
abide in their old positions." 

It was this forward movement that, occupying nine days, 
resulted in the Turkish "victory" of Kairkoi, on the 21st, 
which sent them in precipitate flight about twenty miles 
back to Katzelyevo — see the account farther on. The final 
sentence cited would seem to indicate that the correspon- 



WEAKNESS OF BOTH ARMIES ON THE LOM. 561 

dent himself did not really set a high estimate upon the 
" victories." 

On the 21st of September, in obedience to urgent demands 
of the government at Stamboul, Mehemet Ali made a vigor- 
ous assault on the Russian position at Kairkoi, the extreme 
right, it will be recollected, of the so-called "Army of 
Rustchuk," or, more correctly, "the Russian Army of the 
Lorn/' but, fortunately for the Russians, a movement in 
this direction had been feared, if not anticipated, and a 
portion of the 11th Corps had been sent to reinforce the 
Czarewitch; it had arrived but a day or two before at 
Kairkoi, and had not yet been moved thence on the 21st. 
It is difficult to understand Mehemet Ali's plans, and to see 
why, instead of turning the right, he endeavored to turn 
the left flank of this position ; for, had he succeeded, the 
Russians could readily have brought considerable bodies of 
men from Biela., Monastir and below to bear on his right. 

However, he failed signally, and, after severe loss, retired 
across the Lorn, stopping not until he had placed the safe 
distance of about twenty miles between himself and his 
enemy. 

A correspondent writing, under date of October 1st, from 
the head-quarters of the Czarewitch, Dolni-Monastir, says : 

" We now have before us the rather serious spectacle of 
two armies occupying a line sixty miles long, which neither 
has force enough to hold against an advance of the other. 
The all-important role of the army of the Czarewitch has 
been to cover the line of communications to the Balkans, 
and to keep the Danube from Sistova downwards. Events 
have proved that the advance beyond the Yantra was 
useless, since it was delayed until the Turks recovered 
from the panic which the crossing of the Danube caused 
among them. By assuming the offensive the Russians 
have gained nothing whatever. The positions along the 
36 



562 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Biela-Rustchuk chaussee (high road) are strongly fortified, 
and Biela itself may be said to be impregnable. It will be 
understood that the Yantra is far in the rear of the actual 
positions held by the army of the Czarewitch, for his ad- 
vance posts are from fifteen to twenty miles to the eastward 
of the river, and his corps are concentrated at about two- 
thirds that distance toward Rustchuk and Rasgrad." 
Then on the 4th, the same correspondent writes : 
"The sudden and unexpected withdrawal of Turkish 
forces across the River Lorn, which began on Sunday, 
opposite the right wing of the 13th Corj^s and the left of 
the 11th, is as inexplicable as it is complete and positive. 
The tactics of Mehemet Ali, since his brisk and suc- 
cessful aggressive movement a month since, have been to 
keep in sight, at some point of his line, a sufficient force to 
make it seem evident that an attack was meditated, and, by 
quickly moving this force from one side to the other of the 
semicircle occujoied, he has kept the attention of the Rus- 
sians alive along the whole line. There is no question of 
the truth of the statement, made in my last dispatch, that 
both armies, although continually making demonstrations 
more or less important, have found themselves much too 
weak in numbers to undertake a serious attack. Neither 
army has force enough to defend its line if the enemy 
made an attack in earnest. On this account the campaign 
of the Rustchuk armies has been a succession of small 
battles and lively skirmishes, resulting in considerable total 
loss for both sides, and without the least final advantage to 
either in positions gained or territory occupied. 

" Several times in previous dispatches I have mentioned 
the rapidity with which a strong Turkish force would dis- 
appear from the hills along the Banitzka-Lom. By successive 
similar sudden movements, the whole Turkish army has, in 
three days, completely vanished from before us. On Mon- 



THE CZAKEWITCH DRAWS IN HIS LINES. 563 



day, the Cossacks found the camps about Sinankoi deserted, 
and the enemy completely withdrawn from the territory be- 
tween the Banitzka-Lom and the Lorn. On Tuesday morning, 
at five o'clock, the great camps about Katzelyevo, where the 
enemy was discovered strongly fortified and concentrated 
from positions on either side held the day before, were 
quiet, and to all appearances no movement was meditated. 
Two hours later not a soldier was visible, only a few Cir- 
cassian outposts and Bashi-Bazouks. In the afternoon the 
whole army paraded along the road -leading over the hill 
to Kadikoi, with music playing, drums beating and colors 
flying, in full sight of the Russian outposts. They left 
strongly-intrenched positions directly along the east bank 
of the Lorn, from Kadikoi southward to Popkoi, evacuating 
the heights still farther south around the village of Cher- 
kovna, where the battle [that of Kairkoi] took place ten 
days ago, and leaving every foot of the ground which they 
have occupied during the past month. They posted them- 
selves somewhere to the eastward, as much lost to the Rus- 
sians as if they were a hundred miles away." 

This correspondent, one of the efficient corps of the 
Daily News, whose name we do not know, makes some 
excellent comments upon the Russian soldier on duty and 
when wounded, and upon the serious deficiencies of the 
Russian ambulance service: 

"Here on the field it is with the brave, patient, private 
soldier that one must sympathize the most. Armed with 
a rifle which has a range a third shorter than the Turkish 
weapon, he is obliged to stand fire for a long time before 
he can return a shot. Ordered to march squarely into a 
rain of bullets without any cover, he never for a moment 
hesitates longer than to cross himself, but is off cheerfully 
and enthusiastically, convinced that he is serving God and 
his country when he is fighting the Turk. Wounded, he 



564 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



still goes on until he falls, and then never loses his pluck 
even to the last. What a pitiable sight it is to see the long 
trains of ox-carts of the rudest description, their octagonal 
wheels grinding, screeching and jolting over the rough 
roads a mile and a half an hour, every one with two or 
three wounded men, whose groans almost drown the squeak- 
ing of the axles. A soldier is wounded at the front. 
Possibly he gets attention from the courageous attendants of 
the Red Cross under fire, and then is carried by his com- 
rades miles to the rear and is put into one of these torture 
carts, to be pounded and jolted for three days until he 
reaches a hospital. 

While I relate the experience of almost every soldier 
wounded at a distance from the main hospitals, I do not 
intend to imply that, as far as it goes, the ambulance service 
is defective; the trouble is that it doesn't begin to go half 
far enough, but is on the same cumbersome scale as the 
supply trains, with far too little force properly to attend to 
the wounded which come to the rear after any large battle, 
and a certain ease and deliberation of movement which is 
agonizing to one accustomed to see the duties of the ambu- 
lance corps attended to with enthusiastic promptitude. It 
is in human nature to get careless of the life and callous 
to the sufferings of the wounded if it be impossible 
properly to attend to them. Those who have no anaesthet- 
ics to give get accustomed to the groans of the unfortu- 
nates, and without being aware of it become hard-hearted, 
and to the outsider appear even cruel. I must say that I 
have seen more to horrify me in the treatment of the 
wounded here than ever before, and in every case there 
was a good reason for the neglect. But no one will pardon 
a neglect which is the result of lack of hospital supplies 
on a field where all other supplies are over-abundant. 
"The private soldier rarely solaces himself with a good 



A WORD FOR THE OFFICERS OF THE LINE. 



505 



grumble, the recognized prerogative of all soldiers, but 
stands patiently and takes it as he takes the fire of the 
Turks, as he toils along the dusty tracks in the intense 
heat of summer — always without a word. 

"Side by side with the men in the ranks, sharing with 
them all their hardships, having scarcely greater comforts 
and luxuries, are the officers of the line, most of them 
intelligent and even cultivated men, who have all the 
merits of the private soldier. They are the strong but- 
tresses of the army, and deserve every sympathy and 
encouragement. Often, very often, I have seen a detach- 
ment left in a position by itself with only the officers of 
the line to direct its movements. On one occasion a 
squadron of cavalry held the wing of a position. It was 
fiercely attacked by an overwhelming force of infantry. 
Without a word from the staff, the line officers took charge 
of the whole left wing and saved the day. Compare the 
life of the gallant colonels and brigadiers who sleep night 
after night at the forepost, personally superintending every 
detail of placing the vedettes and protecting the front, with 
the generals, so far away that they learn of a battle after 
it has been lost, drinking champagne to the sound of 
music — and the sympathies must go with those who do the 
work. Perhaps in this descending scale of merit in the 
Russian Army is to be found the reason why the front of 
the line is not better protected, why the Turks get lost to 
us now and then, and why a severe fight results only in 
loss of life and not in any change of position." 

On the other hand, the Russian Army of the Lorn was 
concentrated nearer the Danube, the larger part being 
massed opposite Kadikoi, which was now held by a large 
Turkish fo'rce ; but the Russian line still extended a little 
beyond Biela, which was strongly fortified and garrisoned 
with a strong forepost at Ablava. 



566 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Meanwhile, on the 3d of October, Mehemet Ali was 
summarily dismissed from his command, being sent back 
to guard the Servian and Bosnian frontiers, and Sulei- 
man Pasha was proclaimed Serdar Ekrem, or Commander- 
in-Chief. Mehemet himself declared that he had been 
removed because he had refused to " break his neck against 
a stone wall ;" but it requires little military knowledge or 
sagacity to see that the " stone wall " was scarcely a fence 
of bulrushes. The reasons for his removal are patent, but 
those for the elevation of Suleiman can scarcely be guessed 
by any one outside of the Turkish court circles. A cor- 
respondent of the Daily News, writing from Constantinople, 
October 7th, criticizes this change in strong but sensible 
terms : 

" It is officially announced that Suleiman Pasha is to 
replace Mehemet Ali as the Serdar Ekrem, or Commander- 
in-Chief. Every one has been trying to guess the reason 
why Suleiman is thus honored. That Mehemet Ali would 
be removed has been considered probable for several days. 
He has not shown himself specially active, nor displayed 
remarkable military ability, and no doubt failed signally 
in the action of the 21st ult. Above all, he is of Giaour 
origin ; and unless he could have been uniformly success- 
ful, he was pretty sure to arouse the jealousy of the gen- 
erals under him. But that Suleiman should be his suc- 
cessor is difficult to understand. 

" Suleiman is not a coward, nor is he destitute of energy. 
But his previous services are not of a kind one would have 
thought to warrant his promotion to the most important 
post in the Turkish Army. In Montenegro he showed 
himself altogether incapable of defeating an army much 
smaller than his own. When he was recalled and sent to 
oppose General Gourko, he pushed on rapidly to the front, 
and made the successive attempts to force the Shipka Pass, 



BOMBARDMENT OF SULINA. 



567 



which your readers know so well. But both in Montenegro 
and in the Shipka his one great rule in war seems to have 
been to pound away at whatever opposed him, whether an 
army or a stone wall. If the war between Russia and 
Turkey is to be conducted on the pounding principle, and 
each party is ready to sacrifice any number of men, pro- 
vided that the enemy can be made to lose at least an equal 
number, there can be little doubt, I fancy, which army will 
soonest be exhausted. In Montenegro and at the Shipka, 
Suleiman can hardly have lost less than 40,000 men, and 
these, beyond a doubt, among the best soldiers which the 
Sultan possesses — war, in fact, under him, has been mere 
butchery. 

On October 6th, the Russians entered the Sulina mouth 
of the Danube with 25 floating batteries, and, with the aid 
of 20 mortars planted at Kilia, opened a violent bombard- 
ment of the town of the same name. This continued three 
days and the town suffered severely. A Turkish gunboat 
sent to reconnoitre was blown up by two Russian torpedoes, 
causing the death of seventeen persons. Rustchuk was 
bombarded at intervals, but otherwise the "Army of Rust- 
chuk " manifested little activity. A storm on the Danube 
carried away, on October 12th, some of the pontoons of 
the bridge at Mcopolis, but the damage was speedily re- 
paired. On October 15th and 16th, there was an artillery 
engagement in the Shipka Pass, the Russians having erected 
several new batteries. Reouf Pasha, the Turkish commander, 
claimed to have "inflicted sensible losses upon the enemy." 
In the following week, operations there were continued in 
spite of an unusually early fall of snow, covering the Bal- 
kans to the depth of three feet. Bad weather prevailed 
throughout Bulgaria, and was equally acceptable to both 
sides as a plea for inactivity. Even Suleiman Pasha failed 
to display, as Commander-in-Chief, that feverish activity 



568 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



which, had distinguished him in a less elevated command. 
It was not until October 16th, that he gave any signs of 
life, by personally conducting a reconnoissance in the 
neighborhood of Bustchuk, with several battalions of in- 
fantry and some squadrons of cavalry. Setting out from 
Kadikoi, the scene of an earlier battle, he crossed the Lorn, 
and pushed as far westward as Tirstenik and Mechka, im- 
perilling the Russian communications by the bridge at 
Pirgos. He retired before a severe fire from the Russian 
redoubts between Pirgos and Mechka, "having satisfied 
himself that the ground on the west of the Lorn was still 
unfit for the movement of a large body of troops." 

He consequently withdrew to Basgrad with the bulk of 
his army, and there took up a position at right angles to 
the Lorn, extending from east to west, with his right flank 
resting on the fortified camp at Bazarcljik, while his left 
wing, stationed at the strong position of Sarna-suflar, in 
front of Eski-Djuma, covered the neighboring Balkan 
passes; General Zimmerman, in the Dobrudscha, moved 
up his corps from Kustendji, and advanced in force 
towards Silistria, while his cavalry, in a series of daring re- 
connoissances, threatened Suleiman's communications by 
the Bustchuk and Varna railway, a movement which 
probably influenced the rearward movement of the Turk- 
ish commander. The Army of the Czarewitch, on its side, 
made a serious movement eastward, October 23d, with eigh- 
teen battalions and three batteries, passing the Lorn at 
Yovan-Chiflik and Kara-Hassankoi, and had several in- 
decisive engagements with an equal number of Turks, in 
which the most important incident was the death of a mem- 
ber of the Bussian royal family, Prince Sergius of Leuch- 
tenberg, third son of the Czar's sister, the Grand Duchess 
Marie. The Prince was an accomplished young man of 
twenty-eight years, who, like his elder brothers, had shown 




CAPTURE OF KARAHASSANKOI. 




!AMP OF BASHI-BAZOUKS. 



EECONNOISSANCES ALONG THE LOM. 569 

great gallantry. On the 25th, 12 Russian battalions attacked 
the outworks of Rustchuk, but had to retire with consider- 
able loss. Desultory skirmishes occurred about the same time 
at several other places on the Lorn, the Russian line ex- 
tending in a semicircle, 40 miles in length, from Bassar- 
bovo, five miles south of Rustchuk to Kostanzi, five miles 
below Solenik, on the south-east. At both these points, as 
well as at Kosova and Msova, on the Kara-Lorn, and at 
Zerontza, on the Katzelyevo road, the Russians "met with 
a determined resistance," and they seem to have sustained 
a somewhat serious repulse on the bridges of the Lorn, near 
Kaclikoi. All these engagements were claimed by the 
Turks as victories of importance, while the Russian official 
accounts treat them as mere reconnoissances. It is proba- 
ble that there was a serious intention to force Suleiman's 
line, and this presumption is strengthened by the fact that 
the Czarewitch commanded in person. The Russians 
admitted a total loss of only 300 men, while Suleiman 
stated that they left 720 dead before Rustchuk alone. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



KIZIL TEPE AND YAGNI. 

We left Muktar Pasha, in July, strongly intrenched on 
the northern slopes of the Aladja Dagh, confronting the 
Russian forces encamped on the other side of the plain of 
Subatan. General MelikofF had, on the approach of Muk- 
tar, fallen back from the immediate vicinity of Kars to the 
plateau of Karajal, on the Alexandropol road, just south 
of the main ford of the Kars Biver. Before proceeding to 
the military operations on the plain of Subatan in August, 
September and October, it may be well briefly to note the 
Russian operations before Kars, up to the time of this 
retreat. It will be seen by reference to a map, that Kars is 
distant not more than twenty-five miles from the Biver Arpa, 
which forms the boundary between Turkish Armenia and 
the Bussian j)rovince of Transcaucasia, and that the great 
fortress of Alexandropol, from which the Bussian army of 
invasion proceeded, is situated on the eastern bank of that 
river. The valley of the Kars Biver forms, it will be re- 
membered, the great natural highway into Armenia from 
the north-east, and the investment of the historic fortress 
was, of course, the first object of the invader. General 
Melikoff, as early as April 29th, had fixed his head-quar- 
ters at Zaim on the Kars Biver, about twelve miles north-east 
of Kars, and during the next few days had attempted to 
isolate the garrison of the fortress by cavalry excursions in 
its rear. Muktar Pasha who, at the outbreak of hostilities 

570 



RUSSIAN OPERATIONS BEFORE KARS. 571 

had just arrived at Kars, succeeded in forcing his way 
westward by the Erzerum road, with eight battalions, leav- 
ing Hussein Hami Pasha in command with not more than 
15,000 men, but with plentiful artillery and with the de- 
fenses in good repair. 

The Russians had first appeared in sight at Kars, to the 
eastward, April 28th, and after a couple of days spent in 
reconnoitering, settled down to the work of constructing a 
battery at a distance of 12,000 yards in front of Forts 
Muklis and Arab, on the south bank of Kars River. 
By May 4th, the fire of this battery had become annoying, 
and a part of the garrison by a well-planned sortie, de- 
stroyed the troublesome works. The Russians, nothing 
daunted by this slight reverse, resumed the construction of 
batteries north-east of Kars, but to the north-west of the 
former position, and after more than a month's labor, they 
completed their works up to within 5,000 yards of the 
outer defenses of Kars. The Turks had replied by a series 
of out-lying counterworks. From June 17th to July 9th, 
the Russian batteries poured upon the city a heavy rain of 
projectiles, chiefly against the forts on the heights, but some 
of them sent at random over those heights on the chance 
of falling within the city. During these twenty-three days' 
bombardment, above 40,000 projectiles w r ere thrown into 
the city, with scarcely any resulting damage. The Turkish 
casualties,, including the results of fifteen sorties, amounted 
only to 120 killed and 280 wounded, while the Russians 
are believed to have suffered a loss of more than double from 
the effects of 17,458 large projectiles launched against them. 
The Turkish artillery was very well managed by Hussein 
Bey, who had learned his art by a residence of eight years 
at "Woolwich. As the Russians were not again brought 
into action before Kars until late in October, a description 
of the defensive works will be deferred to a later chapter. 



572 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



After tlie withdrawal of Muktar Pasha from the plain of 
Alashgerd, whither he had pursued General Tergukassoff 
through the Tahir Pass, in the closing days of June, the 
famous governor of Erzerum, Kurd Ismail Hakki Pasha, 
had been appointed to the command of what was termed the 
Alashgerd Division, the immediate object of which was to 
cover the great caravan route to Persia through Bayazid, 
and the ultimate object the invasion of Eussian Trans- 
caucasia from the south, and exciting a Mahommedan in- 
surrection in the Russian rear. For this work, Ismail 
Pasha counted largely upon his countrymen, he being, as 
his name implies, a Kurd, a native of Hadji- Veli, near 
Kars. Following in the footsteps of General Tergukassoff, 
Ismail had reached the Ararat range where it serves as the 
Russo-Turkish frontier, had established his head-quarters 
early in July on the west bank of the Balikli Lake, and 
after the exploit of Tergukassoff, at Bayazid, had pushed 
northward into Russian territory, where he occupied Igdyr 
on the high road between Bayazid and Erivan. 

Very little fighting took place on the plain of Subatan 
during the first month after Muktar Pasha established his 
intrenched camp on the Aladja Dagh. The Mushir (for 
such was his title, corresponding to Marshal,) was person- 
ally inclined to carry the war into Russian Transcau- 
casia, where, by fomenting insurrections among the Mus- 
sulman population, he could, doubtless, have given Melikoff 
and Grand Duke Michael plentiful occupation at home. 
Good policy required this step, but the authorities at Con- 
stantinople refused to sanction this plan of campaign, and 
Muktar had to content himself with sending a few scouting 
parties, from time to time, across the River Arpa, into 
Russian territory. One of these, headed by that dashing 
cavalryman, Mustapha Safvet Pasha, brought back as 
trophies a number of camels and compelled the Russians, in 



AN INTERCHANGE OF COURTESIES. 



573 



self-protection, to occupy the peninsula of Ani, on the Arpa, 
where are the ruins of the ancient capital of Armenia. 
The former circumstance is connected with one of those 
little courtesies between opposing commanders which help 
to relieve the grimness of warfare. 

The Russians in one of their reconnoissances brought 
back to head-quarters an Armenian peasant whom they had 
taken prisoner, together with a couple of teams of draught 
bullocks and their accompanying carts. The man was 
taken before General Melikoff and interrogated under the 
supposition that he belonged to the Turkish service. Find- 
ing himself treated considerately by his captors, he ven- 
tured to claim the rights of a neutral, and demanded the 
restoration of the cattle as his private property. General 
Melikoff saw the opportunity of making a point with the 
natives of the country and replied that he would restore 
the teams if the Mushir Muktar would certify that they 
did not belong to his army service. The man was accord- 
ingly provided with a letter to that effect, and, with the 
intention of having his words repeated, pointedly asked 
the peasant as he was departing, " Why does not the Pasha 
come down out of his mountains into the plain to see me?" 
Muktar, not to be outdone in. courtesy, not only furnished 
the peasant with the required certificate, but sent back the 
camels taken on Russian territory, and sent word to Gene- 
ral Melikoff that "he would be very happy to see the 
Russian commander and as many of his friends as he cared 
to bring to a morning or evening party in the vicinity of 
his camp." 

The work of stirring up insurrections in the Caucasus 
was prosecuted by indirect means. Mehemet Ghazi, son 
of the famous Schamyl, was a general in the Turkish 
service, enjoying the high rank of Lieutenant-General and 
the title of Prince of Lesghia, and the principal service ex- 



574 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



pected of Mm was to excite his countrymen to revolt by 
means of proclamations, correspondence and the sending 
of emissaries. Several chieftains from Transcaucasia pre- 
sented themselves and received high honors and decora- 
tions from Muktar, but no wholesale desertion from the 
enemy's ranks took place. The nucleus of a Polish Legion, 
formed at Constantinople for service on the Danube, was, 
in July, sent to Armenia, in consequence of unfounded 
reports of wholesale desertions of Polish soldiers from the 
Russian Army of the Caucasus, and it was intended to 
organize these deserters into an auxiliary corps. The 
" Polish Legion," however, was destined to serve no higher 
purpose than that of a laughing stock to correspondents, 
as its numbers never reached fifty, and notwithstanding a 
profuse distribution of "incendiary documents" in the 
Polish language, in places where they would be picked up 
by the Russians, not a dozen Poles ever presented them- 
selves in the Turkish camp. 

As early as July 28th, General Melikoff had made a 
demonstration upon a hill on the Turkish left called the 
Great Yagni, which will subsequently play a great part in 
our narrative. The two Yagni hills, Great and Little, 
(which figure in various narratives under the forms Yahni, 
Yaghni, Yanilar, Janilar, Jahnilar, etc.,) occupy a con- 
spicuous position on the plain of Subatan, between the 
Kars-Alexandropol road and the mountain range of Aladja 
Dagh, on which was the Turkish encampment. The 
Great Yagni was a mile and a half in front of Muktar's 
most advanced post on the left, from which it is cut off by 
a deep ravine. It was at least six miles from the nearest 
Russian camp, and as there was no water near it, perma- 
nent possession was unimportant to either party. Three 
brigades from Kars had, however, been stationed on the 
ridge in front of the Great Yagni, and the attack was 



FIKST ATTACK ON GEEAT YAGNI. 



575 



probably intended as a reconnoissance to ascertain whether 
or not there was a close connection between Muktar and 
the Kars division. Ten battalions of Russian infantry, 
18 guns and a considerable body of cavalry having been 
seen on the morning of July 28th, moving across the plain 
in the direction of the Great Yagni, the Turkish com- 
mander stationed three battalions on the northern slope of 
the hill. The action lasted three hours, the Russians sur- 
rounding the hill and attacking at five points, while their 
cavalry penetrated into the ravine to the south, with intent 
to isolate the hill, but the artillery commanded by Hussein 
Hami Pasha prevented them from attaining their object, 
and the Russian infantry was driven down the slope in 
confusion. The Russian losses were probably 200, the 
Turkish, from the nature of the case, were very slight. 

On August 18th a formal attempt was made by the 
Russians to capture the Great Yagni hill. This time it 
was intended not merely to hold it, but apparently to make 
it the head-quarters, for on the evening before nearly all 
the tents of the great Russian camps at Kizil Tepe and at 
Ani were struck. The movement was anticipated by 
Muktar, and the defenses of the hill had been strength- 
ened, and the Turkish lines were connected by a field tele- 
graph, which proved of essential service. The Russians 
brought into action some 35,000 men, and at least 14 bat- 
teries, or 112 guns. The Russian attack opened with 
artillery on the Turkish right at eight o'clock, and suc- 
ceeded in causing the Turks' outposts to withdraw to a flat- 
topped rock called Lakridji Tepe. This movement was 
designed only as a feint to distract attention from the ad- 
vance against the Great Yagni, which was made by an im- 
posing force. Both the Great and Little Yagni were 
crowned with Turkish troops, as was also a ridge connect- 
ing both with the camps behind, where was stationed the 



576 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Kars division of Hussein Hami Pasha, reinforced by one 
brigade from the Turkish right. By dint of superior 
numbers the main Russian column effected a lodgment on 
the northern slope of the hill, and maintained it for above 
an hour, in the face of a terrible fire from breech-loaders. 
It then retreated sullenly, carrying away the dead and 
wounded. A large body of Russian cavalry, with a light 
battery and one or two battalions of infantry, endeavored 
to make their way around the Little Yagni into the rear 
of the two hills, but were checked by the fire of a Turkish 
battery and several Ottoman battallions from the northern 
hill. On the north-east of the Great Yagni the Cossacks 
had a sharp engagement with the Circassian and Kurd 
cavalry under Rescind Bey, and were driven back, and 
Rescind was enabled to harass the rear of the main body 
of the Russian infantry on its retreat, which commenced 
at two o'clock. The Turkish loss was 140 killed and 382 
wounded ; that of the Russians was probably more than 
double. 

For several weeks the Russian central camp was at Ka- 
diklar, or Bash-Kadiklar, called also Orta, in the centre of 
the plain of Subatan, immediately behind a conical hill 
called Kizi] Tepe. On the summit of this hill General 
Melikoff had his head-quarters, when on August 24th it 
was determined to remove the central camp several miles 
due north to the plateau of Karajal, near Kuruk-dara, 
where the Alexandropol road crosses the Kars River. 
Not more than two or three brigades were left in the old 
camp, and the hill of Kizil Tepe was occupied by a force 
variously estimated at eight to twelve companies of in- 
fantry. The Russian change of camp was, of course, 
noticed by the vigilant watchers on the terrace above the 
Turkish head-quarters, on the slopes of Aladja Dagh, and 
Muktar Rasha at once resolved to seize and hold the posi- 



FIEST ATTACK OX GKEAT YAGNI. 



577 



tion thus partially abandoned. He summoned his generals 
and colonels that afternoon, and without asking counsel of 
any of them communicated his intention, the plans for 
which were already drawn up with the aid of his chief of 
staff, Hassan Pasha, To Hashin Pasha was assigned the 
command of the risit ; to Ali Pasha that of the right 
centre ; to Chef ket Pasha that of the left centre, and to 
Moussa Pasha, a Circassian general, who had lately de- 
serted from the Russians — the extreme left. Hussein Hami 
Pasha, with the Kars division, was to co-operate with the 
extreme left, and the irregular cavalry, under Mehemet 
Ghazi, the son of Schamyl, were to support the left centre. 
At midnight Ali and Hashin Pashas, with two brigades, 
took position directly in front, at the village of Kerchane, 
where the soldiers were allowed a brief renewal of their in- 
terrupted slumbers. By three o'clock they were again 
under way, quietly stealing through the cornfields towards 
the foot of Kizil Tepe, which they had nearly reached 
before the sentries gave the alarm, which was quickly fol- 
lowed by the flashes of rifles and the rumble of Russian 
guns on the height. We will here quote the account of an 
eve-witness, Mr. Charles Williams : 

"There was just the faintest tinge of the golden glory of 
the coming morn over the triple peak of Mount Alaghez, 
which, bathed in the full flood of moonlight, cut the clear 
and deep blue sky yet studded by myriad stars — in other 
words, it was quarter to four o'clock, when the head of the 
column began the work cut out for it. This was no less a 
task than to storm the intrenched camp of the enemy, 
situated on the steep hill called Kizil — an irregular three 
buttressed mass of basalt, covered with red scoria and other 
evidences of -once active volcanic agency, and having for the 
most part an inclination from the plain of from forty to 
sixty degrees. But on the other side the buttress sjives a 



578 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



somewhat gentler slope, though even here, a horse can 
hardly walk down it, and it was on this slope that the 
attack was made. The honor of leading was assigned to 
the brigade of Mehemet Bey, commonly known among us 
as "the Captain," a great favorite of the Mushir, and an 
officer whom I have already highly spoken of, and who 
received the unusual distinction of being mentioned in the 
Russian dispatches for having defended, with heroic resolu- 
tion, one of the forts of hapless Ardahan. No better choice 
could have been made for such a task than this Prussian 
Pole who is at once clear, calm, cool and courageous, and 
who has, by his conduct yesterday, confirmed a reputation, 
already established. * * * . * * 

"The Turks crept slowly up the slope of Kizil Tepe, 
and more quickly along that of the reclan hill, which was 
virtually undefended. They were well covered by their 
guns, which pitched hundreds of shells exactly where they 
were wanted, while the Russians could not depress their 
guns sufficiently to sweep the whole of the slope. In fact, 
when once the Turks were within a certain range, their 
guns were of great effect, and those of the enemy were 
merely burning powder. 

" It was about half-past five o'clock when the first point 
of Kizil Tepe was taken, and then the Ottoman battalion 
— it is a great pity they have no regimental numbers in 
this service, for purposes of distinction — went at the rest 
of the top with the bayonet. For this, however, the enemy 
did not wait. They went without the contact of the cold 
steel, and fled in every direction, like so many frightened 
hares. Nothing could have been more creditable to the 
Turkish Army than the way in which Kizil Tepe was taken. 
If there is an 'order for valor' in the Turkish service, 
every man in this assault should have it, and first of all 
the brigadier. 



BATTLE OF KIZIL TEPE. 



579 



" Mehemet Bey was wounded in the breast by a bullet, 
but the lead happened to splash, and the injury is not 
serious. Ali Pasha was also wounded. A shell fell among 
stony ground, and multiplied itself by the fragments of 
rock that it scattered, so that he received several shocks on 
the head and legs. But neglecting the latter, and simply 
tying a handkerchief around the former, the gallant old 
gentleman refused to retire, and remained in action 
throughout the day. 

"As soon as the first alarm was given, the Russians 
moved out their whole force from the Kuruk-dara camp, 
and such forces as could be spared from the camp beyond 
the Arpa, which was crossed at the ford about four miles 
to the north of Ani. But they found all the advanced 
points held by Ottoman troops ; and at five of these points 
the enemies came into contact almost simultaneously. I 
think the actual first encounter, after the immediate vicinity 
of Kizil Tepe, to retake which, three feeble attempts were 
made, was at Subatan, on our left centre, and it was cer- 
tainly here that the Russians fought the most stoutly; 
but here they had the advantage of cover from some of the 
farther buildings of the village, as well as from the sloping 
banks of the little river that here emerges from a great 
ravine, and runs toward Kizil Tepe. However, the Turks 
held a shelf of rock above the village, and established there 
a battery, which, before long, made it impossible for the 
enemy to sustain the combat. Nor could this battery be 
turned, as on former occasions, when the engagement was 
only partial, for we now held both the ravines by which 
such a movement had before been possible. 

" By eight o'clock, so much ground had been gained, and 
so advantageously had the Kars Division taken up its posi- 
tion with its guns on two knolls, that the Russians felt it 
necessary to make an effort to cut it off from Moussa's 



580 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Division, and this they tried in two places. Their artillery- 
fire was almost overpowering in quantity here, and if it had 
been as good in quality there is no telling what the result 
would have been. * * * * * * * 
" Seeing that firing was freshening up in the direction of 
Kizil Tepe, I worked my way thither, reaching the top of 
the hill, under shell-fire, about two o'clock. On the sum- 
mit I met Ali Pasha, Hassan Pasha, whose young aide-de- 
camp was wounded, Mehemet Ghazi Pasha, with his too 
numerous staff, General Sir A. Kemball and his aide-de- 
camp, Lieutenant Dougall, P. N., and in a lull of the 
Russian firing we had leisure to examine the position. It 
was quite clear all was over but the usual artillery finale. 
Our left was as far forward as it was possible to push it, 
without storming the intrenchments of the Pussian right 
camp at Kuruk-dara. Our left centre was too far in the 
rear to be able to catch up to the enemy in time to effect 
any purpose, and its guns were exchanging fire with those 
of the Pussians at about five miles distance, the trails being 
let into a pit in the ground to obtain the necessary eleva- 
tion. On the right centre we held Kizil Tepe, the redan 
and a small ridge beyond; and on the right our line vir- 
tually extended to the Piver Arpa, about five or six versts 
from Gumri. 

"The Pussian right was at their camp on the Gumri road, 
and their left was concentrated with thirteen battalions on 
the ravine before spoken of as preventing our flanking. 
Two of these battalions were in range, and in front of them 
was a battery. In the centre — but before we could exam- 
ine this part of the position, Sir Arnold Kemball's keen 
eye descried a gun in the battery just mentioned, being 
brought to bear upon us, and we — all but Sir Arnold, 
whose coolness is appalling — retired to the shelter of the 
wall of stones with as much alacrity as was consistent with 



KESULTS OF THE BATTLE. 



581 



dignity and coolness. Hardly had we rested when the 
Russians commenced their farewell to Kizil Tepe. 

"And when this kindly farewell had ceased and it was 
safe to leave the hill, even the distant firing of artillery 
on each side was over, and Ahmed Moukhtar Pasha, 
fighting in open ground, had won a great victory, beating 
the vaunted Russian troops not only in line of battle, but 
from behind very strong intrenchments, and having lost as 
many, indeed, as 1,200 men killed and wounded, but not 
without having inflicted on the enemy a loss of at least 
3,000 men, including a general of the Russian cavalry." 
. It is notoriously difficult to ascertain the numbers en- 
gaged in any battle or the losses resulting therefrom ; the 
"official" accounts usually presenting great discrepancies. 
In the above estimate of the losses at the battle of Kizil 
Tepe, Mr. Williams's avowed Turkish sympathies must be 
borne in mind, as well as the untrustworthiness of Turkish 
" statistics," which he has himself pointed out. The cor- 
respondent of the Daily News, who witnessed the battle 
from the Russian side almost exactly transposes Mr. Wil- 
liams's estimate of the respective losses, giving 280 killed 
and 667 wounded as the Russian loss, and estimating that 
of the Turks, on the evidence of spies and deserters. The 
Turkish forces engaged consisted of about thirty battalions 
of infantry with 66 guns, besides a large body of irregular 
horse, the whole amounting, perhaps, to 30,000 men. The 
Russian forces seem not to have exceeded 25,000 and their 
distribution is unknown. Mr. Williams, however, believes 
that they had 62 battalions amounting to some 40,000 men, 
and he counted 90 Russian guns in action. No guns and 
few prisoners were captured by the Turks, and those few 
proved to be chiefly Mussulmans. 

The capture of Kizil Tepe is the high- water mark of the 
military career of Ahmed Muktar Pasha. The exploit 



582 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



obtained for him, from the Sultan, the crowning title of 
Ghazi, " the victorious," which was undoubtedly well 
earned, but as we shall soon see, was not so well maintained. 
He, however, immediately strengthened his new position 
by throwing up earthworks on the slight ridge which con- 
nects Kizil Tepe with the village of Kerchane in its rear. 
On the day following the battle he moved his forces down 
into the plain, and assumed a position ivith his right front 
resting on Kizil Tepe and his left on the Great Yagni. 
The Russians, on their side, on the 27th, responded by 
throwing out their left to the three hills on the Arpa, 
known as Uch Tepe, but on the 30th drew it back to the 
north, fixing it on the left bank of the Kars River. These 
movements are attributed to the Grand Duke Michael, who, 
on the day after the battle arrived in the Russian camp 
and took personal command. 

As a consequence of his victory, Ghazi Muktar 
planned an offensive campaign against the Russians, aim- 
ing at nothing less than the capture of Alexandropol. A 
chief of the Karapapaks, Mahr Ali, a kind of Asiatic Rob 
Roy, performed, about this time, a daring exploit, pene- 
trating with 300 cavalry thirty miles within the Russian 
frontier, struck at Akbulak, the high-road from Alex- 
andropol to Tiflis, routed a body of Cossacks, destroyed a 
Russian depot at the Rokausky bridge, taking 150 artillery 
horses, carried off a mile of the telegraph wire and got 
safely back to Kars with his booty. Several battalions 
were sent northward from Kars to co-operate with detach- 
ments from Batum in the re-capture of Ardahan, which 
had been dismantled by the Russians, after which this 
column would cross the Russian frontier and establish 
itself in the rear of Alexandropol, from the north. Ismail 
Pasha was expected to co-operate with this movement, by 
advancing on the Erivan road from his strong position on 



DEFECTION OF RUSSIAN KURDS. 



583 



the Kach Geduk Dagh or western spur of the Ararat 
range, where he was at the head of an army of 38 bat- 
talions of infantry, 6,000 horse and 56 guns. The chief 
of the Kurds in the Erivan district, Eyoub Aga, the head 
of some 6,000 families in Russian Armenia, about this 
time resolved to cast in his lot with the Turks, though he 
had previously served with the [Russians and, indeed, com- 
manded their irregular cavalry at Zevin. 

The Russian forces in Asia, long overestimated by the 
Turks, but never exceeding 50,000 men, were at last 
heavily reinforced during the month of September, and 
this fact was destined to be decisive of the Armenian cam- 
paign. General Melikoff, with a persistency akin to that 
of the Russians before Plevna, determined to make a third 
attack upon the Great Yagni, and succeeded in carrying 
that position October 2d, only, however, to withdraw two 
days later on account of lack of water. Our best account 
of this series of battles, lasting three days, is that given by 
a correspondent of the Daily News, accompanying the 
Russians. We extract the more important parts of his 
letter, dated Camp Karajal, October 4th : 

"After long waiting for reinforcements, these at last 
arrived in the shape of the 1st Division of the Moscow Grena- 
diers, 16 battalions, each full 1,000 men strong, together 
with 48 field-pieces and 2 regiments of cavalry. After 
almost equally long deliberations, it was decided to make 
a general attack on Muktar Pasha's position on the Aladja 
Mountain and its dependencies of spurs and isolated hills, 
forming — from the Arpa Tchai River, in the neighborhood 
of Ani, to Kars — a continuity of natural strongholds, in- 
trenchments and batteries. The day before yesterday was 
fixed for its commencement. 

" General Sholkownikoff, who, in the absence of General 
Dewel, is in command of the 40th Division on our left, 



584 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



was ordered to turn the Aladja Dagh from Ani with five 
battalions and a battery. He was expected to reach its 
summit, and, descending from it, to fall on Muktar Pasha's 
rear. To General Hey man n, with the Circassian Division 
of Grenadiers, was intrusted the task of closing in with 
the enemy's centre and main force, so as to prevent him 
from withdrawing his troops from Subatan, in order to re- 
inforce other positions which we intended to take, if possi- 
ble. To his right, the 1st Division of the Moscow Grena- 
diers, at General Loris Melikoff's direct disposal, had to 
act against the Yagni hills. The general object, appa- 
rently, was to carry out a complete turning movement on 
both hostile wings, either to surround Muktar Pasha 
entirely or to cut off his communication with Kars. 

" The troops ordered for the advance started from their 
camps at eight o'clock in the evening of the 1st instant. 
At three o'clock precisely the next morning, we followed, 
riding at a moderate speed, to the south-west on a coun- 
try track over the vast plain. Our way was lit by the 
waning moon and countless stars shining with intense bril- 
liancy. We arrived at dawn of day at an eminence some 
one hundred and fifty feet above the flat-topped ridge of 
the rising ground called the Kabak Tepe (Pumpkin Hill). 

" From the top of this commanding point, at half-past 
five, sharp and general firing suddenly struck our ear. To 
our right and left the roar of the cannons, and the sharp, 
dry, knocking, rattling of the musketry came down, sound- 
ing in the distance like the noise produced by the work of 
some hundred road-makers, breaking flint-stones in a re- 
echoing hall. The principal object of attack, the Little 
Yagni, rising now clear in sight, frowned over the plains 
of Kars like an impregnable fortress. Its summit was 
surrounded with breastworks, ditches, rifle-pits and blinded 
batteries. 



BATTLE OF GREAT YAGNI. 



585 



"To our left, the impetuous General Heymann had 
already hurled his division in skirmishing lines against 
the Aladja Mountain, and its southern continuation, the 
Olya hill, separated from it by the upper part of the 
Subatan ravine. The incessant sharp volleys gave evidence 
that the Turkish main force had been concentrated there. 
It was soon clear, also, that a direct assault on those rocky 
steeps and terraces, strengthened by numerous intrench- 
ments and stone barricades, had no better chance of suc- 
ceeding to-day than on previous occasions. Within the 
first half an hour it was clear that the carefully elaborated 
plan of operations again combined all the faults of ]3revious 
tactics, magnified, moreover, by the absence of that dash 
which, at the beginning of the present campaign, was 
characteristic of this army. 

" At six o'clock in the morning, this state of things was 
on both wings as clear as the rising sun, whose rays gilded 
the glorious white crown of Mount Ararat. In the centre 
before us stood, three miles off, cutting the blue sky with 
its regular conical profile, Great Yagni. It covered the 
front of Muktar Pasha's centre and left wing, command- 
ing the plain before them, and enjoyed the reputation of 
impregnability, since at different times various [Russian 
assaults on its steep slopes had been repulsed with consid- 
erable loss. From its foot to its top it was covered with 
rifle-pits and ditches in three superjDosed rows, cut in con- 
formity with the configuration of the ground in projecting 
and re-entering angles. 

"The prospects of success there appeared, indeed, so 
very poor, that it was considered by the Russian staff use- 
less to attempt the conquest of that natural fortress. 
Therefore 'only a demonstration, supported by a brigade 
and two batteries, was intended against it, calculated to dis- 
tract the enemy's attention from the more serious attacks 



586 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



on the Little Yagni. On examining through our glasses 
the greater hill, we found that its garrison was exceedingly 
feeble. The breastworks on its base and its middle were 
not manned at all, and even the fortifications bordering* the 
top plateau were only very insufficiently armed, as was 
proved by the spasmodic and unconnected rifle-firing and 
the apparent absence of cannon. On learning this Gen- 
eral Loris Melikoff ordered a general assault on the hill. 
From three sides the troops advanced merrily in skirmish- 
ing lines, with supports and reserves, cheering as they 
passed their commanding general, who spoke to them some 
encouraging words. The cannons, redoubling their firing, 
flung shrapnel after shrapnel to the top. An hour after- 
wards the whole hill was swarming with grenadiers, who 
steadily climbed up its steeps, despite the frantic firing of its 
defenders. At eight o'clock the Turkish battalion on the 
summit of the Great Yagni had ceased to exist. Our men 
had entirely occupied the impregnable hill, and were wav- 
ing joyously their caps and muskets. 

"While this was being accomplished, the indifferent 
cannonading on the right, between our batteries and those 
on the Little Yagni, was still going on. It might have 
continued for a century, and nothing would have come of 
it. As soon as it became evident that the men on the top 
of Great Yagni were genuine Russians and not Turks, as 
some of us still supposed, the staff rode off in order to in- 
spect the conquered position, and to decide the further 
course of operations now possible through so brilliant a 
beginning. The hill was rather too steep for our horses, 
and we rode round it to the right, over the plain two miles 
wide, which separates it from Little Yagni. Old General 
Loris Melikoff did not seem to care for such trifles as 
shells and the stray rifle-bullets humming around us. 
Taking the lead of his staff, with his green Mohammedan 



FAILTJKE TO TAKE OLYA TEPE. 



587 



standard embroidered with red inscriptions in Arabic let- 
ters flying before kirn, lie gave an example of cold-blooded 
courage to bis officers. 

"A few seconds more, and a big shell burst right amidst 
our staff, perils only one yard behind General MelikofFs 
horse. Earth and small stones flew about. For an in- 
stant, as the foremost part of the crowd disappeared in the 
dust, I thought the commanding general killed. He, 
however, rode quietly on and smiled, as a somewhat 
fainter hurrah accompanied the bursting of the iron mon- 
ster. 

" When we had reached about the middle of the valley, 
from which a road, cut in zigzags, leads to the summit of 
Great Yagni, victory turned her smiling face towards the 
Russian commander, but he disdained the opportunity, and 
listened to General Heymann's opinion. 

" Opposite Great Yagni runs a high, barren ridge, slop- 
ing gradually upward to a flat-topped summit called the 
Olya Tepe, which is severed from the Aladja Mountain by 
the Subatan ravine, about two miles above the village 
of Hadji- Yeli. This commanding point — the most im- 
portant of the whole Turkish position, and subsequently 
well fortified — was literally inaccessible from the plain at 
the foot of the Aladja, towards which it falls off some 
fifteen hundred feet in a succession of steep gradients and 
perpendicular rocks. At its base the Turks had concen- 
trated their main force; and Muktar, relying on the 
strength of Great Yagni, had neglected to occupy with the 
necessary troops the summit of the Olya Tepe. This fact 
had been ascertained by our cavalry patrols. Six of our 
battalions had just descended the Great Yagni, six others 
were near 'at hand ; and had they been momentarily with- 
drawn from the superfluous attack on the Little Yagni, it 
is probable that they would have taken the Olya Tepe 



588 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



almost without loss from the side of its totally unoccupied 
southern ridge. 

" Its occupation by the Russians would have unavoid- 
ably led to the destruction of Muktar Pasha's entire army. 
Its very key, the Great Yagni, was already in our hands. 
At this moment, unhappily, General Heymann, in an 
interview with General Melikoff, w r as pleased to assert 
formally that his troops, advancing from the Subatan 
plain, were quite able to finish taking the Olya Tepe, as 
they had done with the Great Yagni, and that, therefore, 
our available force might be advantageously employed 
against the Little Yagni and the garrison of Kars. This 
strange opinion prevailed. General Heymann, of course, 
did not take the Olya Tepe as he had promised in his san- 
guine fashion, but was, on the contrary, repulsed with con- 
siderable loss ; while the three brigades ordered to assail 
the Little Yagni had no better chance. 

" The staff turned its back to the Olya Tepe, and fol- 
lowed the zigzags of the road which the Turks had recently 
made for the convenience of the garrison on the summit 
of the Great Yagni. Company after company, as they 
passed us descending, cheered the commanding general, 
who wished them good luck. On reaching, at last, the 
level top of Great Yagni, a ghastly sight struck our eyes. 
All the pits and ditches around were filled with the corpses 
of Turks. The dead were almost all shot through the 
head, because the remaining parts of their bodies had been 
sheltered by the parapets. Here they lay as they fell, on 
their backs or faces, side by side, or one above the other. 
In a pit, opposite each other, sat two softas. Though in 
the uniform of soldiers, they were easily recognized as 
religious students by the white muslin band tied around 
their fezzes. One had his skull laid open by a shell frag- 
ment, the other was shot through the temple. Both had 



LOSSES IN THE BATTLE. 



539 



obviously been killed by the same shrapnel. Some hun- 
dred dead bodies encumbered the trenches; others lay 
strewn over the hillside. 

" When we came to the top the Russians had already 
buried their own killed, and had removed all the wounded 
and prisoners. About 140 Turks had been taken alive. 
The number of tents on the hill justified the supposition 
that it had only been defended by about 450 men. 

" We had a magnificent look-out from the Great Yagni 
over the whole field of battle. Kars, a gray heap of stones, 
uninviting like the remainder of this melancholy country, 
rose in sight. From one of its northern detached works — 
I believe Fort Muklis — a monster cannon thundered at 
intervals, sending its shots in the direction of the Little 
Yagni. The troops were still wasting their forces against 
well-armed natural strongholds, when it would have been 
a comparatively easy thing to cut the army off from their 
supplies. As I knew beforehand that nothing would come 
of our supreme efforts, because the same causes must 
necessarily bring about the same results, the same faults, 
the same failures, I did not wonder when General Heymann 
asked for reinforcements, while the Little Yagni blunder 
neutralized about 16,000 men. 

" At last, in the afternoon, the smoke of cannons was seen 
on the ridge of the Aladja Dagh itself. It came from 
General Sholkownikoff's brigade, which had thus succeeded 
in threatening the rear of Muktar Pasha's camp near 
Subatan ; and, in the case of his discomfiture, was ready 
to prevent his escape across that mountain. Muktar's very 
existence was threatened by this dangerous turning move- 
ment. As he, however, does not lack experience with 
regard to unexpected surprises in the mountains, to which 
he had been accustomed during his prolonged struggle with 
the Montenegrins, he was able to parry the stroke with 



590 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



remarkable skill and success by a counteraction, which 
was likely to compel a less circumspect adversary to sur- 
render. As it was, however, General Sholkownikoff retired 
without losing a prisoner. 

, " The day came to an end, and with it the battle. Weary 
after a sleepless night, the members of the staff sat down 
and talked together, or endeavored to slumber a little with 
the earth as a mattress and the rocks as pillows. We had 
nothing to eat and drink, but nobody was very hungry, 
because of the fatigue and nervous excitement. The whole 
army was ordered to bivouac that night on the positions 
which had been conquered or occupied during the day, in 
order to renew the battle on the following morning. The 
poor staff officers, a polite and interesting body of princes, 
counts, barons, generals and colonels, made themselves as 
comfortable as possible in the cold air, on the hard, stony 
ground, without shelter, water and fuel. Moreover, the 
poor horses had not been watered for the last twenty-four 
hours. There is not a drop of water to be found for ten 
miles around Great Yagni, with the exception of the Suba- 
tan streamlet, still in Muktar's grasp. 

" General Melikoff sent two battalions as a garrison to 
Great Yagni, ordering them and the sappers to strengthen 
the intrenchments with additional earthworks. In case of 
need, two divisions were near at hand to support the troops 
on its summit. I could not but suppose that, despite all 
hindrances, the Russians would keep their dearly-bought 
conquest at any cost. The water question was a very seri- 
ous one indeed, especially as the road on the other side was 
exposed to the Turkish firing. Still we had plenty of 
beasts of burden, including thousands of camels, especially 
fitted for this sort of transport. 

"On the following morning, October 3d, I rode to the 
Karajal observatory, to examine the battle-field of the 



BATTLE OF KARAJAL. 



591 



previous day on our left wing, which I had not seen yet. 
There the Grand Duke, his son and his brilliant staff, 
with the field-telegraph office at their immediate disposal, 
had been waiting some hours. Hitherto nothing remark- 
able had occurred. The outposts of the 40th Division, 
under General Lazareff's able command, had had a little 
indifferent skirmishing at the Kizil Tepe. 

"At half-past two o'clock P. M., I saw through my field- 
glass three strong lines of Turkish Tirailleurs, one behind 
the other, advancing, rifles in hand, at a quick pace. They 
occupied a front of at least three miles in length, were 
preceded by two batteries, and followed by compact sup- 
ports and reserves, all arranged in perfect order. The 
whole force must have consisted of about 15,000 men, 
having their right wing covered by the Kizil Tepe. It 
was obviously their intention to make a desperate attack on 
the Karajal camp, and they seem to have supposed that the 
whole Russian forces had been brought over to our right 
wing. They were the more led to believe this as on the pre- 
vious day no signs of troops had been shown here. General 
Lazareff, with the 40th Division, backed by a regiment of 
the garrison of Alexandropol and numerous horsemen, lay 
in ambush for them during the course of that day. The 
Russians were quite prepared to receive the assaulting 
foe. Their soldiers lay in rows concealed in the 
folds of the ground, or behind pyramidal heaps of loose 
stones. Ostensibly, only two battalions and a battery, 
together with some cavalry, leaving the Karajal position, 
marched to the fight. The Turks, encouraged by this ap- 
parent weakness, hastened their steps. Their batteries 
galloped ahead, and opened a brisk shell-fire on those of 
the Russians, who rejjlied steadily with only eight guns. 
At the same time, the Kizil Tepe flung shell after shell at 
all moving objects on the field — ammunition-carts, Red 



592 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Cross wagons, cavalry, herds and laborers — fortunately 
without hurting anything but the soil. The skirmishers, 
too, rattled away while the Turkish infantry drew nearer 
and nearer, without firing a round. They dived down into 
the ravines and reappeared, always resolutely advancing 
against the Russian cannons, which had in the meanwhile 
been reinforced by another battery of eight pieces. 
Although both were exposed to the bullets, they made no 
preparations for limbering up, but continued their slow 
firing. The Turkish batteries were soon silenced by the 
advance of their own men, who masked them. 

"Then, at last, the enemy saw the sunbeams dancing on 
the leveled rifle barrels peeping behind stones and sods. 
Now, at once, he began firing with frantic rapidity, but did 
not slacken his moving ahead. Only stray shots from 
sharpshooters answered the challenge. Finally, however, 
the Russians lost their temper, and, returning the fire 
volley for volley, showed a line of battle of no less extent 
and power than that of their adversaries. Then they rose 
together and faced the shower of lead, advancing and 
firing, firing and advancing, line after line, running from 
cover to cover, but always moving ahead, right down on 
the enemy. Every soldier seemed to believe that the Grand 
Duke's eyes were especially fixed on him. The Turks be- 
came demoralized by this unexpected resistance, supported 
by forces quite equal to theirs. Their advance was checked, 
and came to a standstill. Soon they had had enough of 
the game, and shortly after nightfall were in precipitous 
flight towards their fortified camp around Subatan, at the 
foot of the Aladja Dagh. General Lazareff pursued them 
fast, even through the dark. His lanterns were the inces- 
sant sparkling of the long line of firing rifles and the oc- 
casional broad flash of the cannons. When he had lost 
sight and feeling of the frightened enemy in that pitch- 



ABANDONMENT OF GREAT YAGNI. 



593 



dark night, the firing died gradually out, and the slaughter 
came to an end. 

"The Turks, completely routed, took refuge behind 
their intrenchments, while the Russians, after having 
thrown up breastworks and pits, passed the night on the 
ground they had so gallantly conquered. Their losses were 
severe. The 40th Division had nearly 700 killed and 
wounded in this three hours' fighting, whereas the Turks 
had left about 400 dead on that part of the field which the 
Russians chose to occupy. 

" General Lazareff must be proclaimed the hero of the 
battle, and the Grand Duke was highly gratified with this 
striking proof of his ability. For the 4th a general re- 
newed assault on the Little Yagni was announced. This 
seemed incredible after the bitter experiments on the 2d. 
Luckily the rumor has not been confirmed by events. As 
the staff had not returned yet, I presumed that something im- 
portant was in view. I at first intended to ride directly to 
the foot of the Great Yagni, but learned that our head- 
quarters had been transferred to the Kabak Tepe. Every- 
body in the camp labored under the belief that the Great 
Yagni had, once for all, remained in the possession of the 
Russian troops, and that the line of communication of the 
Turkish Army with Kars had been efficaciously inter- 
rupted. My astonishment was, therefore, equal to my dis- 
appointment on being informed at the Kabak Tepe bivouac 
that the Great Yagni hill, and all the surrounding valuable 
positions, which the Russians had conquered on the 2d with 
so considerable an effusion of blood, had been finally 
given up, on the plea that it was difficult, if not impossible,, 
to provide the troops and animals there with water. 

" MuktaT Pasha stood triumphantly with his staff on the- 
top of the Great Yagni, which he was allowed to occupy 
without spending a single drop of his soldiers' blood. He- 
38 



594 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



has, after a narrow escape, due only to unaccountable blun- 
ders, the right to boast that he has succeeded in stopping 
the Eussian advance. The Russian staff has since returned 
home to head-quarters, 

" We had, according to the latest accounts, 3,360 men 
hors de combat, among them 960 killed and 2,400 wounded. 
We lost only two prisoners." 



CHAPTEE XX. 



THE BATTLE OF ALADJA DAGH. 

The battle of the Great Yagni had such an equivocal 
result that it was loudly proclaimed a victory by both the 
opposing commanders. The general opinion of Europe 
has treated it as a Russian success, which it clearly was, so 
far as the capture and retention of the hill of that name 
is concerned. But the failure of the determined assaults 
upon the Little Yagni, the abandonment of the intention, 
at one time formed, of capturing the Olya Tepe, the key of 
Muktar's position, and the slight result from the vaunted 
flanking movement in the rear of Aladja Dagh, to say 
nothing of the evacuation of Great Yagni after two days' 
occupancy and after executing there formidable works with 
the spade, undoubtedly justified Ghazi Muktar in claiming 
to have held his own. According to Mr. Williams, the 
Ghazi never regarded the Great Yagni as an essential 
portion of his line, but always theoretically conceded its 
possession to the Muscovite, whenever he should seriously 
attempt its seizure. The optimists in the Ottoman camp 
estimated the Russian losses during the three days of bat- 
tle, at 12,000 men, and confidentially named to a corre- 
spondent the day on which they expected to enter Gumri 
(Alexahdropol.) 

Even so 'cool an observer and so temperate a military 
critic as Mr. Charles "Williams, came to the conclusion, on 
October 5th, that fighting was substantially over for the 

595 



596 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



season, and after consulting with Grhazi Muktar and with 
Sir Arnold Kemball, the English general attached to his 
staff, thought it safe, in a journalistic sense, to return to 
Europe. We accordingly lose his genial companionship 
from this date, and may echo the parting compliments of 
the Turkish commanders : " We have now been bons com- 
rades together for a long time. I have been always pleased 
to see you and much regret this necessary separation." 

Ghazi Muktar did not, however, long deceive himself in 
regard to impending events. He was well served by his 
spies, and knew that in addition to the two divisions which 
had joined the Grand Duke Michael, previous to the late 
battles, other heavy reinforcements were constantly reach- 
ing the Muscovite carcqa, among them, a hundred and thirty 
educated young officers, who had recently received their 
commissions. Knowing, therefore, that if he were beaten, 
it would be by dint of overwhelming numbers, he wisely 
concluded to concentrate his lines, to strengthen his main 
position and to act strictly upon the defensive. It was, 
doubtless, mortifying to abandon the historic hill of Kizil 
Tepe, which will be linked forever with the proud title he 
bore, but sound judgment required this step, which was 
taken on the night of October 8th. Great was the disap- 
pointment in the Ottoman camp when the order was re- 
ceived to abandon that hard- won position and retire to the 
former bleak quarters on the slopes of Aladja Dagh. The 
intention had been kept so profound a secret, that the 
Russians were taken completely by surprise and suspected 
a stratagem. 

Still, during the morning of the 9th, the whole Russian 
Army undertook a forward movement as early as eight 
o'clock. The Cossack cavalry entered Subatan, and, in a 
few minutes, had planted a battery of eight guns on the 
ridge above that village. Shortly afterward they advanced 



BATTLE OF SUBATAN. 



597 



to Hadji- Yeli, and a column of infantry scaled the well- 
remembered heights of Kizil Tepe. By eleven o'clock the 
entire Russian Army was drawn up in line of battle, on the 
plain, in the front of the Aladja Dagh, and the heavy guns 
at Subatan opened upon the Ottoman camp. Muktar sent 
out three battalions, in skirmishing order, to check the ad- 
vance, and placed on a rocky knoll a battery of Krupp 
guns, which replied to the Russian fire. Then five more 
Russian batteries were brought into play, making, in all, 
forty-eight guns, which, ranged in a semicircle, directed 
their missiles chiefly against the Turkish batteries, though 
fortunately for the Ottoman gunners, with very little 
effect. By one o'clock, the Russian infantry, extended 
upon a line three miles long, were engaged pouring a de- 
liberate and effective fire of musketry into the Turkish 
columns, which replied with too great rapidity. The action 
continued until after sunset, without having accomplished 
any important result on either side. The Turks had nearly 
1,000 men hors de combat, by the admission of the Daily 
News' correspondent, who is our authority for this engage- 
ment, while, strange to say, the equally trustworthy cor- 
respondent of the same journal on the Russian side, makes 
no mention of this battle, and postpones Muktar's retreat 
from Kizil Tepe and Great Yagni to the night of the 9th. 

On the next morning, all was still in both encampments, 
except that a large siege-gun, which the Russians had es- 
tablished on the summit of Kizil Tepe, threw occasional 
shells against the redoubt on Lakridji Tepe, the conical 
hill on the extreme Turkish right. Large masses of Rus- 
sians moved silently across the plain by Kabak Tepe, and 
re-occupied the Great Yagni Hill, and long Muscovite 
columns were seen defiling on the Ottoman right, along the 
valley of the Arpa River towards the ruined city of Ani, 
whence they disappeared from sight, and the Turkish 



598 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



head-quarters' staff was at a loss to conjecture their desti- 
nation. In the afternoon of the 10th, Ghazi Muktar and 
his staff rode to the summit of Aladja Dagh to reconnoitre, 
but could make out nothing of the object of this movement. 
He, nevertheless, made a correct guess, when he dispatched 
Ferik (Lieutenant-General) Selim Pasha, with fifteen bat- 
talions to the rear of Aladja Dagh, with orders to fortify 
and hold the Orlok Mountain and the village of Vezinkoi, 
the latter being a strategical position of great importance, 
in a direct line between Aladja Dagh and Kars. 

The Turkish commander was destined to be rudely ad- 
vised as to the destination of that detachment which he saw 
disappearing behind the old Armenian capital, when, four 
days later, he beheld his whole army dissolving into chaos, 
as the result of a master-stroke of strategy. It is almost 
inconceivable that the prudent Ghazi should not have sent 
out, at least, a squadron of Circassian cavalry or Kurdish 
irregulars, to track this dangerous flanking column, but 
this enormous neglect is only one of several indications 
that he was now losing heart and was deserted by his for- 
mer keen military insight. As General McClellan points 
out in a masterly manner, in the North American Review, 
(January, 1878), he should, when once he abandoned the 
advance posts in the plain of Subatan, have also given up 
the Aladja Dagh, and, falling back to a closer connection 
with Kars, have fixed his centre at Vezinkoi, resting his 
extreme right upon Olya Tepe and the valley of the small 
mountain stream called the Mazra River, while his rear at 
Orlok should have been strengthened with the utmost care. 
The least that can be said in support of this view is that 
Muktar would thus have been safe from all danger of the 
crowning defeat which so soon overtook him. 

We return to that flanking column which had been seen 
to emerge from the Karajal camp on the morning of Octo- 



THE PLAN OF BATTLE. 



599 



ber 10th. In conception and execution, it was the most 
brilliant exploit of Russian generalship in the Armenian 
campaign, though, as above shown, its success might 
have been frustrated either by greater vigilance on the 
part of the Ottoman scouts, or by a more judicious selec- 
tion of a defensive position. We quote from General 
McClellan : 

" The plan was simple and effective. It was to turn the 
Turkish right, and carry Orlok and Vezinkoi with a 
strong column, meanwhile to hold the Turks in check 
until the turning movement was completed, and then 
attack the centre at Olya Tepe, and thus cut the army of 
Muktar in twain. The turning movement was intrusted 
to General Lazareff, with a complete division, who com- 
menced this important march on the 9th. Late on that 
day he crossed to the east bank of the Arpa, at Kagach, 
about seven miles above Ani, and followed the same bank 
to Karabinski, some eighteen or twenty miles below Ani, 
where he re-crossed the river and moved on Digor, which 
he reached on the 12th. On the 14th, he appears to have 
come seriously in contact with the enemy, whom, after 
hard fighting, he drove off in confusion, occupying the 
Orlok heights at the close of the day. He now tele- 
graphed his Commander-in-Chief, informing him of his 
success, and saying : 6 If to-morrow morning, at daybreak, 
you attack Muktar Pasha from your side, his destruction 
is certain.' This dispatch reached Melikoff at three in the 
morning of the 15th; after four hours the main army 
moved to the attack." 

Under date of Camp Karajal, October 17th, a corre- 
spondent of the Daily News triumphantly chronicles the 
success of the Russian strategy: 

" Muktar Pasha's army has ceased to exist. I can state 
this truth on personal knowledge of the operations by 



600 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



which the dissolution of the Turkish force has been ac- 
complished before my own eyes. The Ottoman General, 
who had proudly kept his position for months on the 
almost inaccessible mountains and hills opposite Kuruk- 
dara, has been shattered against his own rocks. 

"We had no unnecessary trouble, bloodshed and neu- 
tralizing of our forces before the impregnable Little Yagni 
Hill. General Heymann was charged to carry the Olya 
Tepe at any cost, and had for that purpose the gallant 
division of the Caucasian Grenadiers and 56 cannon at his 
disposal. The Moscow Grenadiers, posted on his left, re- 
ceived orders to refrain from acting until that hill was 
taken. They formed the reserve, and observed the enemy's 
movements on the Aladja Dagh. Opposite this mountain, 
a heavy battery of 24-pounders had, since the 12th, bom- 
barded the enemy's camp there night and day, at intervals 
of fifteen minutes, in order to disturb it and harass the 
Turks. Our right wing was covered by the Ardahan Bri- 
gade, under General Komaroff, and some regiments of 
cavalry, which were intended to check the garrison of 
Kars, and that of the Little Yagni. 

" The fighting on all other points than the Olya Tepe 
was insignificant. The Aladja and the Little Yagni con- 
tinued their indifferent cannonading, aiming at random. 
All my attention was, of course, drawn to the Olya Tepe, 
where, perhaps, the future destiny of the Turkish Empire 
was at stake. On a sudden, three Turkish cannons boomed 
to our left beyond the Subatan streamlet and ravine, which 
separate the Olya Tepe from the Aladja. From this moun- 
tain descended, towards the Olya Tepe, a strong line of 
Turkish Tirailleurs, coming obviously to the rescue of that 
hard-pressed position. But before they could even cross 
the ravine their advance was arrested by a Bussian line, 
which compelled them to withdraw. At the same time, 



STORMING OF OLYA TEPE. 



601 



the three columns of Russian Grenadiers told off for the 
assault on the Olya Tepe, moved onward up that hill. 
Steadily they climbed towards the summit, always firing, 
in face of the desperate resistance of the Turks, who dis- 
appeared in the smoke. Onward the Russians stormed, 
crowding more and more together as they approached the 
cone, towards the enemy, while their batteries covered the 
top level with shells and shrapnels. 

" The formidable redoubt was at last taken by that gal- 
lant onslaught. General Heymann, losing no time, paraded 
his soldiers, and ordered immediately a sharp pursuit, 
which was carried out in a clever manner. The next for- 
tified plateau to the south-west, situated just before that of 
Vezinkoi, was also stormed within an hour. Then Gene- 
ral Lazareff assailed the enemy from his rear, and barred 
his retreat to Kars. The batteries also closed in with the 
scattered Turks, wherever they perceived them, and 
covered them with a hailstorm of projectiles. The van- 
quished foe tried to rally and escape in all directions, but 
found no issue, and was soon close hedged in by infantry, 
artillery and cavalry. 

" Unfortunately, the garrison of the Little Yagni, watch- 
ing their time, when everybody's attention was drawn to 
Vezinkoi, escaped with stores, cannons and ammunition to 
Kars. This, I regret to say, was the fault of our cavalry, 
which did nothing to prevent the retreat, on the plea of its 
being dark already, else it would have been literally im- 
possible for the Turks to slip through our lines, as the hill 
is surrounded on all sides by dry and level ground. Colo- 
nel Kavalinsky, chief of the staff of the cavalry, reported at 
nine o'clock to the Grand Duke that seven pashas, thirty-six 
cannons and* twenty-six battalions had surrendered and laid 
down their arms. 

" The Russian losses are about 50 officers and 1,600 men 



602 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



killed and wounded, numbers quite insignificant as com- 
pared with the result. The battle of Aladja Dagh will, of 
course, redound to the honor of His Imperial Highness 
the Grand Duke Michael in the Russian annals. "We 
hardly expected so brilliant a victory after the series of in- 
conceivable blunders committed since the opening of the 
campaign." 

In Asia, as in Europe, the London Daily News won a 
decided triumph over all other journals, in its correspond- 
ence from the seat of war. The letter from which we have 
just quoted is excelled in picturesqueness of detail and in 
personal identification with the fortunes of the day by the 
correspondent on the Turkish side. Before quoting from 
the latter narrative, it may be well to remark that 
the name of the fortified height which formed the key 
of the Turkish position is given in the authorities before 
us with a bewildering variety of spelling, and it has cost 
us no little labor to ascertain that they all refer to the 
same sjoot. It is called Acolias on the Russian maps, 
Awly-Yer in the narrative just quoted, Evliatepesse in 
Turkish dispatches, and in the letter from which we next 
quote, Olija Tepe by Mr. Williams and Olya Tepe by 
General McClellan. The latter is correct, and we have 
therefore reduced our authorities to uniformity in this 
resjoect. It is probable that the name of Aladja Dagh is 
merely the same name applied to a range of mountains 
instead of an isolated hill. 

We reluctantly omit our correspondent's account of the 
shelling of the Mushir's head-quarters, on the evening of 
the 13th, by two long range siege-guns planted at Subatan, 
of his own retreat for safety to Dr. Casson's ambulance, 
three miles to the westward, on the brow of the long 
slope of Aladja Dagh, and of LazarefTs attack upon Orlok in 
the Turkish rear, which he witnessed on the afternoon of 



A PERILOUS NIGHT. 



603 



the 14th, from the hill-crest above the ambulance. We 
begin our extract from his letter dated Erzerum, October 
24th, with the narrative of the troublous night preceding 
the battle : 

"I had retired to my tent and sunk into an uneasy 
slumber. A thundering detonation roused me. A heavy 
shell had burst within twenty yards of my tent. I sprang 
to my feet and rushed from the tent. The white smoke 
was still curling upwards from the frosty turf, torn into a 
black circle by the shell. Another projectile whistled over 
my head and burst against the rocks beyond. Every one 
in the ambulance was astir. We were being deliberately 
shelled. Dr. Casson, half-dressed, was having his sick and 
wounded carried on litters further up the mountain, out of 
range of the 16-centimetre projectiles. His colleague, the 
youug volunteer doctor, was prostrate after the reaction of a 
severe typhoid attack. I had leaped to horse as the second 
projectile burst, and never shall forget that poor, feeble 
young man lying among the bare, bleak rocks in the gray 
mountain air, as I galloped by. 

" Seeing that the projectiles continued to fall within the 
ambulance, I rode hurriedly away to get out of range. 
Muktar Pasha, accompanied by General Sir Arnold Kem- 
ball, came sweeping by. I rode after them, and, together, 
we mounted the steep hill at the western extremity of 
Aladja. A battalion already occupied the heights, shel- 
tering behind some scanty earthworks. The Marshal sat 
under cover of a parapet and ate his frugal breakfast. 
At half-past seven, the artillery opened fire on Olya Tepe, 
the shells falling with an accuracy which contrasted 
strongly with previous artillery-fire. At half-past nine, 
the first musketry-fire was heard, and from that moment, 
the dull roar of small arms was continuous. The entire 
plateau on the summit of Olya Tepe was one cloud 



604 THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



of dense white smoke, which reeled and palpitated with 
bursting shells and the fire of the three guns of the 
defense. Four battalions — some 2,000 men — held the 
trenches below the crest. The Eussian columns crept 
nearer and nearer, and the artillery was close enough to 
be under musketry-fire. At last came a moment when the 
gradually lessening fire of the defense showed how fatally 
the Eussian fire was telling. Muktar Pasha ordered up a 
battery from the rear to sweep the front of the hill with its 
fire. 

" The critical moment had arrived. We had at least 
twenty battalions in the old positions and on the summits 
of Alaclja. The hill attacked, Olya Tepe, commanded the 
line of retreat : this once lost, the forces on Aladja were 
cut off. Seeing the gradually lessening fire of Olya Tepe, 
and deeming its capture inevitable, as we had not a single 
battalion to send to its relief, I determined to leave the hill 
where the general and his staff were placed, and seek safer 
quarters. I turned to the right to get out of range of 
the shells, and there in the plain met an enormous crowd 
of Bashi-Bazouks on horseback, Circassians, Kurds and 
Arabs. I halted among them on the ridge which divides 
the Kars plain at this point. At one o'clock, the Eus- 
sians carried Olya Tepe by assault, after four hours and 
a half of infantry combat. At this juncture, the Mar- 
shal left the hill on which he had stood since morning. 
Scarce five minutes elapsed after the capture of Olya 
Tepe, when the Eussian field-batteries, covered by a 
cloud of Cossacks, dashed foward between the captured 
position and the greater Yagni Hill. The fire of the two 
or three batteries thus brought into action, swept obliquely 
the only line of retreat left to the Aladja troops; and at 
the same moment, the Eussians established in rear of 
our left opened fire. The line of retreat was all but im- 



A DISORDERLY FLIGHT. 



605 



passable. Lingering convoys still struggled over the 
stony surface ; and a couple of battalions, with a haste 
scarcely dignified, were making for Sivritepe. I must here 
state that through all the confusion which followed, Muk- 
tar Pasha bore himself like a true soldier, retiring only 
when his soldiers left him no other choice. The irregular 
cavalry, principally composed of Arabs from Orfa and 
Aleppo, fled in disorder as the first shells burst over them, 
retiring jpele-mele behind Sivritepe. 

"At this juncture the Russians made a general advance 
in front by Olya Tepe, and on our right flank from the 
positions won on the preceding evening. There was no 
further resistance. The battalions occupying the forts on 
Sivritepe fled in disorder. As I looked on them from a 
distance, I could scarce believe it was infantry I saw in 
such a disordered crowd. I supposed for the moment the 
fugitives were spectators, or else Bashi-Bazouks. A few 
minutes undeceived me. They were Nizams, the infantry 
of the line. Nearer and nearer advanced the Russian bat- 
teries in front and flank. I left the commanding ridge of 
the plain on which I stood, and made for our last position, 
the hill of Vezinkoi, not far from Kars. This is an iso- 
lated hill in the plain, and takes its name from a ruined 
Armenian village close under its brow. Here, around a 
large water reservoir, were accumulated the wagons, mules 
and camels . of the commissariat sent off the night before 
from Aladja. Some four thousand irregular cavalry and 
panic-stricken infantry were mixed up with the ox- 
wagons and camels. It was a scene of utter confusion. A 
reserve battalion of regular troops, deployed in open order 
with fixed bayonets, prevented the runaways from flying to 
Kars. Nearer and nearer thundered the Russian guns, 
and each detonation thrilled the disorganized mass with 
terror. It was only by a stratagem I got through the 



606 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



blocking line of infantry. The road to Kars was cum- 
bered with ox-wagons, baggage, mules and what was 
supposed to be their escort. All were running at full 
speed. The oxen galloped like horses. The mules 
careered madly ; and often when their burdens slipped 
from their backs, the frightened conductors went on, not 
daring to lose time in picking up their charge. The panic 
was complete. A mile farther on was a line of infantry 
with levelled rifles, threatening all runaways; and, as I 
myself saw, firing repeatedly on those who sought to get 
off by a side movement. It was with the greatest difficulty 
I got through this second line. * * * * * 
" The confusion within Kars was indescribable. I be- 
lieve that if the enemy had assaulted at that moment the 
town was his without even the semblance of a struggle. A 
heavy slumber, consequent on the weary watching of pre- 
ceding nights, followed. At dawn I was on foot. Patrols 
lined the narrow streets, seeking to collect the scattered 
soldiery. The Marshal dared not show himself in the 
streets. Some even said he was killed. By midday I had 
made up my mind. It was evident that Kars was about to 
be besieged, and that not a moment was to be lost if I 
wished to escape. Long before daybreak, on the following 
morning, I was on my way, accompanied by my old com- 
panion, M. Le May, of the Paris Temps. Before I leave 
Kars I must mention the parting words of Dr. Casson, 
who remained behind to take care of his sick colleague. 
' Will you,' he said, ' thank the Stafford House Commit- 
tee for their aid ? — but I wish you to say that the supplies 
sent by Colonel Loyd-Lindsay were, by far, the most 
practical and best selected of any I have received/ I 
chose a trusty Moslem guide, who looked upon every 
Russian as a son of Sheitan. 'On my head and my eyes 
be it,' he said, ' if I do not bring you through the Bussian 



A NIGHT SCENE IN THE SOGHANLU. 



607 



lines.' Before daylight, away over the hills towards the 
opening of the Olti Valley. For fourteen hours and a 
half we toiled over rocky summits, for we dared not go 
down into the plain below. I made the last couple of miles 
on foot, amid a storm of thunder, and sleet, and rain. I 
staggered into the village of Bashkoi, beyond the village of 
Hadje Kake. I was announced in the village as the ' English 
Pasha/ and the best hovel in the place was put at my dis- 
posal. The poor Kurd villagers (who, by the way, under 
other circumstances, would have complacently cut one's 
throat,) swarmed round me for protection and information. 
I was tired to death with my fourteen hours' ride, but I man- 
aged by the light of the blazing fire-logs to indite the copy 
from which this letter is written. The pen had dropped 
from my hand, I was utterly overcome with weariness, 
when loud noises were heard outside. Every one was afoot 
grasping his arms. My impression was that we were sur- 
prised by the enemy's cavalry. I rushed towards the door. 
J udge of my surprise — I almost upset Muktar Pasha him- 
self. Behind him stalked General Sir Arnold Kemball, as 
grave as usual. 'What, you here?' the Marshal said. 
* Your Excellency,' I replied, ' I am a fugitive, before the 
bad weather and the fortune of war.' The night was 
glacial. A great fire of pine logs from the Soghanlu Dagh 
blazed on the primitive hearth. 

"How strange was that night. Some cold meat was 
produced and a kettle of tea was made. A general silence 
pervaded the oda. No one wished to be the first to speak. 
It was the respect one naturally pays to misfortune. Muk- 
tar Pasha turned to me abruptly and said, fWhat do you 
think of the enemy's artillery-fire during the battle?' 
' Excellency/ I said, and I felt a little shy about giving 
my true opinion, ' I think the Russian artillery-fire was 
very good indeed.' 'Yes,' said the Marshal, ' that was the 



608 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



grand point where they beat us. It was the old story of 
France and Prussia. Two days before the battle I sent 
spies into the Russian camp. They told me that 130 
young officers had arrived. I don't know to what nation- 
ality they belonged, but to them I attribute the excellence 
of the fire which beat us.' The Marshal paused, and then 
with a smile, he said to me, ' This is the second time you have 
seen me beaten. You remember Verbitza V I certainly 
did remember Verbitza, in Herzegovina, where the Monte- 
negrins almost destroyed the Turkish Army. 'Excel- 
lency/ I ventured to ask, ' what may be our losses in the 
late fight V The Marshal replied immediately, ' We have 
lost 12,000 prisoners ; the loss in killed and wounded I 
don't know/ At dawn, we continued our dreary retreat 
over the dark mountain slopes, where the poor wearied 
soldiers had slept all night long amid the wet grass. Two 
thousand eight hundred men constituted the remnant of the 
army of Kars. Eleven thousand men had been left at 
Kars, with the few field-pieces remaining; and we were 
retiring with what was left of the army in the field, drag- 
ging ten mountain-guns over the muddy ways. I left 
Muktar Pasha with his scanty force on the slopes of the 
Soghanlu Dagh. He seemed to hope to be able to effect a 
junction with Ismail Pasha coming from Bayazid. Mean- 
time, all is panic here at Erzerum. The wagons for 
Trebizond are so laden with fugitive women that no place 
is left for men." 

That scene of Ghazi Muktar in the hut at Bashkoi, is a 
worthy companion-piece to Archibald Forbes's sketch of 
Eadetsky at Shipka Pass, and MacGahan's picture of Sko- 
beleff after the loss of the redoubt south of Plevna. 

The great victory of Aladja Dagh was followed by 
an immediate advance of the Russians against Erzerum. 
Between Kars and the Armenian capital are three distinct 



PREPARATIONS FOE DEFENSE OF EKZERUM. 609 

positions, where a formidable resistance may be made by 
the defenders of the soil against superior numbers. These 
are the Soghanlu range of mountains, running north-east 
and south-west, about twenty-five miles west of Kars, and 
practicable by only three passes, the so-called "lines of 
Koprikoi," resting upon the village of that name, at the 
only bridge over the Upper Araxes, and the Deve-Boyun 
range of hills, immediately in front of Kars, to the east- 
ward. With an army of even 10,000 men it would have 
been easy for a skillful and determined general like Muk- 
tar Pasha to have kept the enemy at bay, at the Soghanlu 
passes, for an indefinite period; indeed he had already 
demonstrated his capacity on this very field, for the great 
victory of the 25th of June, when the headstrong impetu- 
osity of General Heymann had been shattered against 
the rocks of Zevin, had been won on the plateau forming 
one of the defenses of the main Soghanlu Pass. But 
Muktar had fled past the Soghanlu Mountains with barely 
2,800 men, saved from the wreck of his hopes and plans 
at Aladja Dagh. He paused two days near Zevin, hojung 
that the forces of Ismail Pasha, which were simultane- 
ously retreating along the caravan road, through the passes 
of Tahir, might cross the Araxes, at Khorassan, and 
effect a junction with him, in time to make a stand at his 
old position at Zevin. But Ismail was too thoroughly de- 
moralized to heed any intimations of the kind. He had 
withdrawn from his post on Russian soil at the first news 
of Muktar's defeat, and had paused at Zadikhan, at the 
entrance of the southern passes until October 24th, when 
the approach of a Russian detachment from the north 
caused him to accelerate his retreat, and he never stopped 
until he brought his 8,000 men safely behind the earth- 
works at Koprikoi. Here Muktar joined him, and on the 
28th, learning that the Russians were already in possession 
39 



610 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



of tlie plateau of Zevin, and were advancing along the 
caravan road from Bayazid, fell back across the plain of 
Hassan Kaleh to the Deve-Boyun heights. 

Across the fertile plain of Hassan Kaleh, thirty miles 
long by twenty broad, the northern side of which is adorned 
with the finest old Genoese castle in Asia, Muktar retreated 
on October 28th. The same night, his rear guard was as- 
sailed by the Russian cavalry, and he was forced to fall back 
on Deve-Boyun, the last line covering Erzerum. 

The main attack by the Deve-Boyun road was successfully 
made on the 4th of November. The somewhat surprising 
results of this action are best described by the Daily News 
correspondent with Muktar Pasha, writing under that date : 

" The Russians, following up the disastrous retreat from 
Kars, had camped in the plain of Hassan Kaleh, at the 
village of Khoredjuka, about an hour and a quarter from 
the Turkish positions at Deve-Boyun. At this last-men- 
tioned point, the mountains girding the Hassan Kaleh 
Plain on the north and south close in, forming a narrow 
pass leading to Erzerum immediately beyond. From its 
peculiar form, and the curve which it describes, it has been 
named the 6 Camel's Neck/ Its eastern entrance is guarded 
by three military positions, which, on the occasion of the 
battle, constituted our centre, right and left. Its entire 
length was some three hours' march. To defend it we 
had an army of about 15,000 men. This consisted of 
2,800 men, the remnant of the Army of Kars, which 
accompanied Muktar Pasha in his flight from that town ; 
of 1,500 picked up at Kuprikoi; of 4,500 from Ismail 
Pasha's army, retiring from Bayazid ; of stragglers who 
came up ; of troops from the garrisons, and of four bat- 
talions arrived from Trebizond. Faizy Pasha, an old 
Hungarian officer, chief of the staff, worked hard at the 
defenses. ******** 



BATTLE OF DEVE-BOYUN. 



611 



"Between eight and nine in the morning, the long, dark 
Russian lines were seen opening out in the wide, dim plain 
that stretches away to Hassan Kaleh. Gradually the 
long, black, parallel lines crept closer, so quietly, that 
if .one were not observing attentively, the shortening 
of the distance might pass for an optical illusion. But 
the Turkish gunners had more accustomed eyes, and the 
long, white, curdled smoke-cloud that breaks from the 
central battery announces that the fight has begun. 
Gun after gun puffs out without any apparent impression 
on the menacing lines. In fact, they are firing at long 
range, and, at best, Turkish artillery-fire is far from excel- 
lent. Not' so the enemy's artillery-fire. Shell after shell 
is planted in our midst with a precision which recalls the 
battle of Aladja. ' I don't believe,' said one old Moslem 
officer at my side, ' that Russian officers direct those guns ; 
they are English or they are Prussian.' I had seen the 
changed character of the artillery-fire when the Russians 
drove us from before Kars backwards on the Soghanlu 
Dagh. The Marshal himself, Muktar Pasha, called my 
attention to this extreme accuracy of fire, as he had done 
on a former occasion when the Russians stormed the Olya 
Tepe. An attack on the centre seems evident, but yet the 
Turks make no movement. Every one is at his post, and 
an ominous silence broods along the line, save when from 
the right the heavy guns thunder out at intervals. Sud- 
denly the Russians open right and left, directing their 
dividing forces outside our extreme flanks; on one side 
towards the glens leading to the valley of Olti, on the other 
to the flank of the mountains south of Erzerum. A stub- 
born resistance follows, for the Turks have had time to 
march battalions to the threatened points. All day long 
the dull roar of musketry reached us from the lateral val- 
leys. On the left, Mehemet Pasha, the bravest soldier in 



612 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



the Army of Anatolia, holds his ground. At the centre, 
Moussa Pasha, a Circassian chief, commands ; on the right, 
two Pashas have already fallen, Pufat Pasha and Hakif 
Pasha. Hussein Pasha, the old artillery commander, takes 
their place, and the fight goes on. It is evident the Rus- 
sians are getting the worst of it, for their fire begins to re- 
coil along the dun hill slopes on both right and left flank. 
I believed it was a Turkish victory, and that we were sure 
of, at least, a month's fighting before Erzerum could be 
even menaced. 

" It was three o'clock in the afternoon when we saw the 
enemy on both flanks retiring, to rally out of cannon-shot 
of our positions. During the side attacks the Russian 
artillery was hard plied, and of eighteen guns at our centre, 
fourteen were dismounted or useless. Then a sudden 
inspiration seemed to seize the Pussian general. His 
rallied battalions were hurled against the long hill which 
formed our left centre. Arrived at its base, a steep slope 
screens the assaulting columns from the fire of the defend- 
ers. Pussian reserves are pouring steadily forward. The 
artillery of the attack continues its deadly fire. The 
Turks on the long hill waver — they fly. The Russians 
are already on the plateau. Muktar Pasha, with several 
battalions, dashes at once to the critical point. Too late ! 
The officers of the battalions fall dead, and flight ensues. 
The centre is carried. ' I remained there,' said the Marshal 
to me afterwards; 1 1 wished to die.' But people came 
round him, and he was carried away. Then came a 
hurried retreat on Erzerum. The darkness only saved the 
army from annihilation or capture. We lost 42 field-guns 
and pieces of position, and about 4,500 men killed, wounded 
and prisoners. The Marshal himself admits 1,000 killed. 
We are, for the moment, blocked in Erzerum. To the 
Pussian summons to surrender, the Marshal, after demand- 



CAPTURE OF FOET AZIZIEH. 



613 



ing twenty-four hours' grace, rej)lied that while a stone of 
the fortress remained erect he would hold Erzerum." 

On the morning of November 9th, at three A. M., two bat- 
talions of the Elizabethpol Regiment surprised Mount 
Azizieh, which overlooks Erzerum on the east, and was 
defended by three great redans. They took 500 prisoners 
and 20 officers, spiked 20 guns, but were compelled to re- 
tire with a loss of 400 men, by the brave Mehemet Pasha. 
A general attack on the defenses of Erzerum was intended 
that night, but several Russian columns lost their way in 
the darkness and the movement was postponed. Another 
equally unsuccessful assault was made on the night of 
November 12th, after which the Russian commander de- 
termined to wait for reinforcements and, meanwhile, con- 
tented himself with sending out cavalry to cut off the 
Turkish communications. 

We now turn to the final siege and capture of Kars. 
Hussein Hami Pasha had again been left in command, with 
Hussein Bey, the Woolwich-educated artillerist, as his 
chief reliance. There were provisions in plenty for six 
months, and no lack of ammunition. The chief want was of 
men to garrison nine forts, forming an enceinte of over twenty 
miles. Authorities differ as to the number of the garri- 
son. Mr. Williams will have it, that after deducting 3,500 
sick and wounded, in the hospitals, there were not above 
10,000 nizams and redifs, or regular soldiers, within the 
works. But, according to the lists of prisoners, there must 
have been nearer 20,000 than 10,000 men within the 
works. Immediately after the battle of Aladja Dagh, the 
Russian Commander-in-Chief, sending Generals Heymann 
and Tergukassoff to act against Erzerum, had removed his 
camp to Boyuk Tekme, in the valley nine miles south-east of 
Kars, and proceeded to closely invest that city. On Octo- 
ber 25th, a summons to surrender was sent to Hussein 



614 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Hami Pasha, and, after a council of war, embracing all 
the officers "who held the Sultan's commission, it was 
unanimously determined to hold the place to the last. 

On the 26th, General MelikofF occupied in force the 
whole valley of the Kars River and such of the heights 
north of the city as were not held by the Turks. Can- 
nonading began on the 29th, the operations being chiefly 
directed against the south-east or open front of the amphi- 
theatre of mountains within which nestles, at the base of 
the hills, the celebrated stronghold. On November 4th, 
the long-range guns opened fire from Magardik. The 
main Russian Army, which had hitherto been left behind 
in the old camp at Karajal (or Kuruk-dara,) commenced 
its march towards Kars, on the 5th. Near Vezinkoi, it 
was attacked by ten Turkish battalions, which issued from 
Fort Hafiz Pasha, the easternmost of the defenses of Kars, 
situated in the plain south of Mount Karadagh, with which 
it is connected by intrenched parapets. The ten battalions 
were driven back to their fort in confusion, and the Rus- 
sian Kutais Regiment, intermingled with the fugitives, 
entered it with them and spiked eight guns. Of course, this 
was only a momentary advantage, as the Russians retreated 
as speedily as jDOssible, after accomplishing this daring 
coup de main. The siege-batteries were rapidly placed in 
position, extending from the right bank of the Kars River, 
near Komadsoi, to the foot of the hills near Vezinkoi. 
The continued cannonading had a greater moral than physi- 
cal effect, as it succeeded in harassing and dispiriting the 
defenders of Kars to such an extent that Hussein Hami 
telegraphed to Erzerum his fears that the fortress would 
fall at the first assault. The decisive assault was intended 
for the night of the 13th, but the weather being stormy it 
was postponed until the night of the 17th. We quote from 
Mr. Williams : 



ASSAULT UPOX KAKS. 



615 



" The moon was near the full, but the darkness was very 
deep, except, now and then, when a faint gleam of light peeped 
through. The columns were formed up about six o'clock, P. 
M., and they advanced at eight, against the devoted strong- 
hold. Not fewer than 30,000 Russians were on the spot, 
but only about 18,000 took an actual part in the affair, which 
was directed by General Loris MelikofF himself, the Grand 
Duke Michael, as usual, playing the part of a meddlesome 
looker-on. General Lazareff, who had charge of the flank 
march round Aladja Dagh, now commanded the right 
wing, with the 40th Division of Infantry, and it was 
his business to attack Forts Hafiz Pasha and Karaclagh. 
General Count Grabbe was intrusted with the Russian 
centre, having with him one regiment of the Moscow 
Grenadiers and the 1st Regiment of the 39th Division. 
Generals Roop and Komaroff were placed on the left with 
what remained of the Akhaltsik troops, or as they were 
called since May, the Ardahan Brigade, supported by a 
second regiment of the Moscow Grenadiers. 

" The attack began in the centre, where, for some 
strange reason, the Turks made but a feeble resistance. 
The very audacity of the attack, under cover of the night, 
upon virtually the strongest fortress of the world, each 
part of which, by daylight, supported and commanded 
other parts in a way very unusually complete, seems to 
have paralyzed the Ottoman defense. Months ago Hus- 
sein Bey declared to me that Kars had only one weak 
point, and that he believed nobody knew it but himself. 
The Russians knew it, however, when they found that the 
Turks had no more than 600 men to each mile of parapet, 
and certainly not more than 1,000, even when the unwill- 
ing and incompetent traders of the bazaar were dragged or 
driven up to the ramparts which they incommoded with- 
out defending. Then all the 300 siege-guns of Ivars were 



616 



THE CONQUEST OF TTTKKEY. 



useless, or next to useless in the darkness. To employ 
them without being able to see against what points they 
should be directed was to do as much harm as good. 

"And so the defense of Kars fell to the infantry, already 
half-demoralized by the massacre of Aladja Dagh. Yet, 
for a time* they fought well. It was three hours before 
the few hundred men in the Kanly fort succeeded in reach- 
ing the parapet, and as he ascended it, General Count 
Grabbe fell, pierced by a Peabody bullet. He was suc- 
ceeded, I am told, by General Belinski, and before the 
night was over that officer also bit the dust. But omelettes 
are not made without breaking eggs, and even at a great 
sacrifice of officers Kars was worth haying. Once in pos- 
session of the Kanly fort, for the Ottomans withdrew as 
soon as the enemy was fairly in the work — the Russians 
had pierced the enceinte at a vital point, unless the Turks 
could bring their artillery to bear upon it. The darkness 
prevented this, although an attempt was made from the 
adjoining redoubts to clear the work of the invaders. In 
a very few minutes afterwards another work, called Suvary, 
or Cavalry Fort, was similarly carried, the Russian loss 
being, here, much smaller than at Kanly. The citadel, in- 
accessible from all points save one, was next taken, simply 
because its little garrison fled. At Fort Karadagh the 
Turks fought most stoutly. For ten hours they kept the 
Russians at bay. Time after time they hurled them back, 
but each time their strength grew less, while there were 
always new forces of the enemy swarming up the steep 
cliff on which it is built. Simple exhaustion ended the 
affair, and at six A. M., on the 18th, the Russians had 
won the key of Kars. 

"Fort Hafiz Pasha had given in about two o'clock in the 
morning. Takmash and Arab forts, on the northern 
heights, held out till eight o'clock, and then their garri- 



CAPTURE OF EAKS. 



617 



sons, exposed to the daylight-fire of the guns of the other 
works, now turned against them, were compelled to give 
way, and sought safety in flight over the mountains. But 
the Russians were ready for this ; their cavalry swarmed 
over the ranges, and every wearer of a fez was either taken 
on the spot, or driven hack into Kars." 

The Russian trophies consisted of 312 guns, most of 
them brass siege-pieces, made at Tophane (Constantinople), 
on the Krupp model, but including 42 field-pieces, whole 
depots of rifles and revolvers, large quantities of ammuni- 
tion, stores and provisions, and about 16,000 prisoners. 
Typhoid fever soon began to rage in the town, and among 
the prisoners, thousands of whom perished. General Meli- 
kofY entered Kars on the 18th, and the Grand Duke 
Michael made a solemn entry on the 20th, entertaining 
his principal officers at the palace of the mutasserif, or 
civil governor. He fixed his head-quarters at Veran- 
Ivaleh, near Ardost, on the 22 d, leaving only a garrison to 
occupy the great Armenian fortress, and dispatched Gen- 
eral Melikoff to assume command of the forces before 
Erzerum. The construction of siege-works against Fort 
Azizieh began November 18th, and were so far advanced 
on the 22d that Ghazi Muktar was summoned to surrender. 
After twenty-four hours' delay, employed in consulting the 
Ottoman government, he returned answer that Erzerum 
would be .defended to the last stone. The occurrence of 
heavy snows soon afforded the city a respite from imme- 
diate danger, and, as we shall see, it was held until sur- 
rendered by the terms of armistice. 



\ 



CHAPTEE XXI. 

INVESTMENT AND FALL OF PLEVNA, AND SUEEENDER 
OF GHAZI OSMAN. 

When the veteran Todleben was constituted virtual 
Commander-in-Chief and Imeritinsky was appointed Chief 
of Staff of the Army of Plevna; when to Skobeleff 
was assigned an important command and to Gourko was 
intrusted the cavalry — in short, when rank of birth gave 
place to true military talent and sagacity, and theory to 
knowledge, then the fate of Plevna was sealed ! At any time 
before November, Osman Pasha might have withdrawn from 
Plevna and made at least a temporary stand at Vratza, or 
some other defensible position, certainly at Orkhanieh, 
where his close proximity to Sophia would have been in 
itself no slight advantage. Indeed, he should have evacu- 
ated Plevna immediately after his third repulse of the 
Russians, while they were evidently demoralized, if not 
paralyzed by the terrible defeat. Every day of delay, at 
least after the Russians had awakened to a just sense of the 
work to be done, and how to do it, was fraught with added 
peril to Osman. He had received the proud title of 
Ghazi, "the victorious," an honor rarely bestowed, as a 
just recognition of his achievements in September ; but, as 
in the case of Muktar Pasha in Asia, the honor seems to 
have worked mischief to its recipient. 

The evidence of a vast improvement in the handling of the 
Russian armies, dating from a time soon after the third dis- 

618 



STRATEGICAL COMBINATIONS. 



619 



astrous repulse at Plevna, is to be found not only at the scene 
of the main operations, but throughout Bulgaria. Prepara- 
tory to the formal and complete investment of Plevna, the 
Commander-in-Chief, possibly by the advice, certainly with 
the concurrence, of the Czar, unified his forces, making the 
several armies parts of one Grand Army, as they had not 
been heretofore from the time of crossing the Danube; 
henceforth we find a positive unity of plan. The position 
in the Shipka Pass was strengthened by being fully gar- 
risoned ; the Czarewitch's line was not actually shortened, 
but fewer towns were occupied, and the army was massed 
at the more important points of the line, it being wisely 
concluded that were the Turkish Army of the Lorn to slip 
through, leaving the Russian Army of Pustchuk on its 
rear and the reserve at Tirnova on its left flank, it would 
suffer far more damage than it could possibly inflict ; the 
14th Corps, in the Dobrudscha, was moved closer to Silis- 
tria ; the division at Sistova and the detachments stationed 
in Roumania as garrisons were held well in hand, so that 
one or more could be moved rapidly to any threatened 
point — in this way it was practicable to keep these garri- 
sons down to minimum numbers. In short, every corps, 
division, brigade, regiment, battalion and company, thus 
was made an integer in the active operations of the one 
Grand Army. 

General McClellan, in his third paper on the Eastern 
War, in the North American Review, No. 260, January 
and February, 1878, gives the following description of the 
topography of the country lying between Plevna and the 
Balkans, and south of the range, which, though in some 
parts not as lucid as that accomplished writer could have 
made it, must materially assist the reader in comprehend- 
ing the investment of Plevna and operations subsequent 
to its fall : 



620 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



"The main road from Plevna to Sophia, after crossing 
the Vid, follows the platean between that river and the 
Isker as far as Padoniirzy, passing, meanwhile, through 
the two Dubniks and Teliche. At Radomirzy, it crosses 
the deep valley of the Panega, a branch of the Isker, and 
again follows the plateau to Lukovitza, when it again enters 
the valley of the Panega, which it follows through Petreven 
to Karasula, when it leaves the valley and crosses the 
mountain to a point a little north of Yablonitza, where it 
again follows the valley for a short distance, and then fol- 
lows the mountains, crossing the Little Isker at Karaula. 
To this point, the course of the road is a little west of south. 
Here it turns nearly west until it reaches the Pravitza 
branch of the Little Isker, follows it in a south-easterly 
direction to Pravitza, and then turns due west along the 
northern slope of the main range to Orkhanieh, which is 
situated in an elevated plain or valley. Here the road 
turns south-east and crosses the main range, called at this 
point, the Etropol Balkans, through the Orkhanieh Pass, 
(Baba-Konak,) until at the southern base, (at Kamarli,) 
it intersects the main road from Sophia to Slatitza. The 
Orkhanieh Pass is narrow, winding and difficult ; it has 
been intrenched at many points, and is represented as very 
strong against a direct attack. At Karaula, a road 
branches off to the south and follows the valley of the 
Little Isker to Etropol. From Etropol, various moun- 
tain-roads diverge, intersecting the main road from Sophia 
to Slatitza, and all turning the Orkhanieh Pass. 

" Near Gorni-Dubnik, a road diverges from the Sophia 
road towards the south, enters the valley of the Vid near 
Kerukevo, (or Chiri kovo,) and follows it to Teteven, 
passing through Toros and Pescherna, From a point 
somewhat north of Teteven, other cross-roads lead to the 
Sophia road, and also to Etropol. The road leading from 



GENEKAL TODLEBEN's AKEIVAL. 



621 



Gorni-Dubnik to Teteven continues up tne valley of the 
Vid to its head, then crosses the main Balkan range and 
connects with the main road from Philippopolis to Kezan- 
lik, as well as that from Sophia to Slatitza ; thus cutting 
the communication of Sophia with Constantinople, as well 
as taking in reverse the Shipka Pass and opening the road 
to Adrianople." 

Early in October, General Todleben arrived in front of 
Plevna. General Zotoff had been some time before 
designated commander of the Army of Plevna, and he 
continued to hold the ostensible command, but Todleben 
became the actual commander, not only directing the im- 
mediate siege operations, but advising the movements gen- 
erally. On the 7th, an order was issued appointing Prince 
Imeritinsky chief of staff, relieving General Kriloff from, 
and assigning General Gourko to, the command of all the 
cavalry, an important element of which were the famous 
Grenadiers of the Guard, and giving General Skobeleff a 
quasi-independent command consisting of the 16th Divi- 
sion and a portion of the Imperial Guard. 

General Todleben's first care was to strengthen the works 
on the east, re-arranging them and pushing them, at points 
where it was practicable, closer in towards the enemy's lines. 
Meanwhile, General Gourko was sent to intercept and pre- 
vent the approach of supplies or reinforcements for Osman's 
army. It will be recollected that, while Kriloff was in 
command and intrusted with this duty, the cavalry was so 
wretchedly handled and the duty so ill-performed that 
Osman's communications were practically open — but it was 
all changed now, Gourko permitted nothing to escape him : 
the last convoy that succeeded in reaching Plevna entered 
on the 12th of October, before Gourko had gotten fairly 
in his saddle. 

The Turkish commander had sought to keep his com- 



622 



THE CONQUEST OF TTTKKEY. 



munications open by fortifying and garrisoning a number 
of towns on the roads, via Teteven, Etropol, Orkhanieh and 
Vratza, from Sophia to Plevna. The first of these attacked 
and captured by Gourko was Gorni-Dubnik, on the Orkha- 
nieh road, about twelve miles from Plevna ; it was strongly 
intrenched with a redoubt of 400 yards flanked by two smaller 
works, and garrisoned by twelve battalions with four guns 
under command of Ahmed Feyzi Pasha ; Gourko's force 
consisted of twenty-four battalions of the Guard and one 
regiment of Grenadiers, with sixty-four guns. Crossing 
the Vid near Kerakevo, east of Teliche, early in the 
morning on the 24th, Gourko placed one regiment of the 
1st Division of the Guard on the road towards Teliche, 
and the rest of the division towards Plevna, to guard 
against reinforcements that might be sent from either di- 
rection, while with the remainder of his force he hastened 
to a vigorous attack on Gorni-Dubnik. Notwithstanding 
the comparative smallness of the garrison, the battle was 
prolonged from six o'clock A. M. to six P. M., so strong 
were the works and so desperately brave the men. Gourko's 
instructions to his officers were that until one o'clock the 
artillery should keep up a heavy fire, and then there should 
be a general assault — but two hours before the time desig- 
nated for the advance, the Grenadiers, breaking away from 
the control of their officers, dashed forward and took the 
redoubt on the extreme right. Here they were exposed to 
a terrible fire from the Turkish centre, while at the same 
time they masked the fire of the Russian left. The Mos- 
cow regiment, the infantry support of the Grenadiers, fol- 
lowed promptly and assaulted the central redoubt, but 
fruitlessly; the Pauloff and Finland regiments bravely 
seconded this attempt, but also without gaining ground 
— the Grenadiers held what they had so gallantly taken, 
but at fearful sacrifice of life in their own ranks and in the 



BATTLE OF GORNI-DUBNIK. 



623 



ranks of the three regiments supporting them. At length, 
as evening approached, Gourko concluded to withdraw his 
men until the ensuing morning, feeling that further sacri- 
fice would be useless ; but, in the meantime, the Rifle Bri- 
gade, it would seem without orders, had, by following a 
series of ravines, succeeded in gaining the rear of the cen- 
tral redoubt, whence, lying down, they poured in a wither- 
ing fire upon its defenders ; and, almost simultaneously, the 
Finland regiment effected an entrance through a weak or 
unfinished part of the works — victory was assured, the 
Turks surrendered. Of the twelve battalions, the survivors 
of five had escaped, the remnants of the other seven, 
amounting to 3,000 men, including Ahmed Feyzi Pasha 
and his staff, with a complete regiment of cavalry and 
four guns, were the gains, while the losses of the victors 
amounted to upwards of 2,500 men and 154 officers. 
No doubt, the loss would have been less and the re- 
sult would have been sooner attained, had Gourko's well- 
laid plan been adhered to. 

The regiment stationed on the road towards Teliche, had 
been ordered to advance slowly as near to that town as prac- 
ticable without attacking, as there were known to be four 
or five battalions and three guns in the intrencliments ; 
however, having approached within rifle-shot, the Turks 
opened upon them furiously, whereupon the Russians, re- 
gardless of orders, rushed forward to within three hundred 
yards of the works, when the officers succeeded in with- 
drawing them with much difficulty, nearly four hundred 
men being left killed and wounded on the field. The in- 
human monsters of the garrison immediately came forth, 
murdered the wounded and shockingly mutilated all the 
corpses — this' barbarity is attested by two English Red 
Cross surgeons accompanying the Turkish Army. 

Having thoroughly intrenched Gorni-Dubnik against 



624 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Plevna, and repaired and strengthened the Turkish re- 
doubts, Gourko placed a garrison to hold it, and, on the 
28th, taking two infantry brigades, one of Grenadiers, one 
of Cossacks of the Caucasus, and seventy-two guns, went 
against Teliche, where the Turks had three guns and seven 
battalions of men ; these surrendered after two hours' can- 
nonading, the Russian loss being but sixteen men. Prince 
Albert, of Saxe-Altenburg, was slightly wounded. Among 
the prisoners was the English Colonel Coope, acting as vol- 
unteer in charge of an ambulance. He was sent as prisoner 
of war to Russia, and has since published a volume relating 
his adventures. The two English surgeons referred to, 
Messrs. Douglas and Vachell, were set at liberty. Gourko 
repaired and strengthened the defenses and placed a garri- 
son in Teliche. 

Then, with the 2d Division and part of the 1st of the 
Guard, and sixty-four guns, Gourko turned back towards 
Plevna, to capture Dolni-Dubnik, about eight miles from 
Plevna. The garrison here was estimated at 5,000, and 
the defenses were certainly admirable ; but there was really 
no serious conflict, for the Turks scarcely replied to the 
severe cannonading of the Russians, which was kept up for 
two hours until night set in ; during the night of October 
31st the Turks fled to Plevna, and in the morning of No- 
vember 1st Gourko occupied the works. 

After the capture of Teliche, October 28th, while Gen- 
eral Gourko himself moved northward to complete the 
investment of Plevna by the occupation of Dolni-Dubnik, 
he detached a considerable portion of his forces, chiefly of 
cavalry, but with a strong infantry support, under com- 
mand of General KarassofT, towards the Balkans. 

On October 29th, KarassofT occupied and intrenched 
Radomirzy, and on the 30th, Lukovitza, at each of which 
he placed a sufficient garrison, and pressed onward against 



STORMING OF TETEVEN. 



625 



Teteven. On the 31st, Chefket Pasha, who had, for some 
time, been roving about with a considerable force, seeking 
to effect a diversion for the relief of Ghazi Osman, attacked 
the Russians in Badomirzy, but was repulsed with ease, 
and sent flying towards Orkhanieh, with a brigade of 
Cossacks in pursuit. On the same day, Colonel Orloff 
stormed Teteven, taking it with the loss of only one man 
killed and 21 wounded, while the Turks left more than a 
a hundred dead on the field. The defenses comprised seven 
large and nearly thirty small works, while the garrison 
consisted of only 600 infantry and 150 cavalry, a very 
meagre force for works of such extent. The Turks fled 
across the Balkan Pass to Karlovo and westward to Ork- 
hanieh. A detachment of Cossacks of the Guard sent 
westward by Gourko, occupied, November 9th, almost 
without fighting, the important town of Vratza, where a 
large number of wagons and a million and a half of rations 
were seized. 

There was now a lull of a fortnight in the fightiitg upon 
this line, pending which we may glance at the Turkish 
preparations for defense. The failure of Chefket Pasha 
to hold the Orkhanieh-Plevna road led to his removal, and 
Mehemet Ali, who had arrived at Salonica, October 31st, 
en route for Bosnia, was directed to assume this important 
command, with Chakir Pasha (then at Shipka,) as his 
chief of staff. Mehemet Ali arrived at Sophia November 
18th, and proceeded to re-organize the demoralized detach- 
ments, constituting an army nominally 50,000 strong, but 
probably numbering much less. His chief defensive posi- 
tion covering Sophia was at Kamarli, at the southern base 
of the Balkans midway between the passes leading respect- 
ively to Orkhanieh and Etropol. His most brilliant sub- 
ordinate was undoubtedly Baker Pasha, formerly Colonel 
Valentine Baker, of the British Army, a brother of Sir 
40 



626 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Samuel Baker, the Nile explorer. This officer was at the 
head of the Ottoman Imperial Gendarmerie, which he had 
personally organized, and was sent from Constantinople, at 
this time, along with Nedjib Pasha, as members of Meke- 
met Ali's staff. The new Commander-in-Chief arrived at 
Orkhanieh November 22cl, just in time to witness a series 
of defeats, for which he was not responsible. Since 
the beginning of November, a grand advance by this 
officer, upon Sophia, at the head of 70,000 men, had been 
persistently rumored, and such a movement was doubtless 
projected from that time, but until the fall of Plevna was 
thought to be assured beyond peradventure, Gourko's move- 
ments partook of a double object, partly looking back 
towards Plevna, partly forward in the direction of the re- 
nowned Bulgarian capital. From the middle of November, 
he was at liberty to devote all his energies to the latter 
object. 

General Gourko set out from Dolni-Dubnik, on the 
Sophia road, November 16th. His forces, both of infantry 
and cavalry, were considerable, probably not less than 
50,000 men, including the detachments which had already 
gone forward to Teteven and Vratza. On the 18th he 
reached Yablonitza, a point where the roads to Orkhanieh, 
Etropol, Teteven and Loftcha converge. Here he re- 
mained four days, pushing reconnoissances in various 
directions, and preparing a converging movement against 
Orkhanieh and Etropol. On his left the detachment of 
Guards at Vratza advanced by the direct road towards 
Orkhanieh, and after a lively engagement, November 22d, 
reached Novatzin and Lutikova, a few miles north-west of 
that town. In front of Yablonitza, to the south of the Little 
Isker, the Turks had occupied some positions in a narrow, 
crooked defile, between rugged mountains, impregnable to 
a front attack. Gourko accordingly commissioned Gen- 



A DIFFICULT MARCH. 



627 



eral Rauch to turn the pass by descending the Little Isker 
to its junction with the Pravitza brook, and then ascending 
the latter to the village of the same name, where he would 
take the Turkish position in the rear, while Gourko him- 
self would attack it in front. 

General Rauch started from Yablonitza at two o'clock in 
the afternoon of November 21st, with orders to march all 
night. His force consisted of the Semnofsk regiment of 
the Guard, the rifle battalion of the Imperial family, three 
sotnias of Cossacks, and a platoon of mountain-artillery. 
As the distance was only forty kilometres by the map, he 
was expected to arrive at Pravitza by noon of the 22d, at 
which time the Vratza detachment would also co-operate on 
the extreme right. But the calculations based on the map 
proved erroneous. The mountain paths, which Rauch had 
to thread, along the ravines of the Little Isker, "were so 
difficult and narrow that artillery carriages could only pass 
with one wheel over the side. They were only kept from 
tumbling over the precipices by the soldiers holding them 
with ropes passed round the wheels." In several places a 
pass had to be made by blasting with dynamite. Advance 
at night was out of the question, and the dense fog was a 
great obstacle by day. The hope of a surprise had to be 
abandoned, but luckily the Turks had not thought it neces- 
sary to guard these rude fastnesses. At nightfall of the 
22d Rauch had only reached Lukavitza, a village near the 
Pravitza brook. General Gourko meanwhile had not been 
idle. He advanced his head-quarters to Osikovo, south of 
the Little Isker, and his Cossacks of the Kuban, com- 
manded by General SchuvalofF, proceeded by the direct 
road, and drove the Turks from the hill in front of the 
Pravitza Pass, while the Moscow regiment was sent to 
occupy the hills on the east of the pass, opposite the Turk- 
ish positions. During the night of the 22d, a battery of 



628 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



artillery and another of mountain-howitzers was dragged 
up the heights, immediately overhanging the road opposite 
the Turkish works, at a distance of not more than one 
thousand yards, and still another battery was planted on 
the hill taken by the Cossacks. When the fog cleared 
away, on the morning of November 23d, the artillery 
opened upon the Turks, who answered but feebly with two 
guns. The Russian official dispatch states that "after 
forty-nine hours' uninterrupted struggle with incredible 
difficulties, General Ranch's column reached the almost 
inaccessible position held by the Turkish left flank. At 
noon of the 23d General Rauch's troops drove the enemy 
from his position, the Turks in their flight having to pass 
through a storm of shells from General SchuvalofT's artil- 
lery." The key of the Turkish defenses had been seized, 
with a loss of only twenty-nine men. This engagement 
was literally a battle above the clouds, but it was distinctly 
seen across the fog-enshrouded valley by Gourko's men at 
Osikovo, " as if enacted on a stage in an immense theatre," 
says Mr. MacGahan, himself an enthusiastic witness. We 
quote from his letter the sequel : 

" The Moscow regiment on the left of the road now 
began to descend the height into the valley near Pravitza, 
and the Turks on the heights on the other side of the road 
opened a spirited fire upon them, but as the object of the 
Russian movement was to turn the Turkish position from 
this side as well as the other, and as the plain was wide 
enough to get out of range of the Turkish fire, they did 
not lose a man, and they quietly occupied Pravitza, where 
they were likewise stopped from joining Rauch, and cut- 
ting off the Turkish retreat by the fog and the darkness. 

" The Turks were now surrounded on three sides. As 
was expected, they retreated upon Orkhanieh during the 
night, abandoning the whole position. They seem to have 



CAPTUKE OF PPAVITZA AND OEKHANIEH. 629 

had enough men to protect their rear. Nevertheless, to 
judge by Bauch's easy victory, they did not fight as the 
Turks fought at Plevna, or the victory would have cost 
the Russians at least ten, or perhaps twenty times what it 
has cost them. The whole loss was only about sixty men 
killed and wounded. 

" If we were to judge of the victory by the loss of men 
it would be but an insignificant affair, but military events 
are not to be judged in this way. It is not the passage of 
the Balkans yet, as there is still a higher range before 
them which may prove more difficult ; nevertheless, there 
are several passes or places where a passage may be 
effected for making a turning movement, and the Turks 
have not troops to defend all. It is only a question of 
time and weather. These passes are difficult, but they can 
be made if the weather permits, and the weather, so far, 
remains delightful, except for the fog at night." 

While these movements were taking place, another de- 
tachment of Gourko's force was advancing upon Etropol 
under command of Prince Alexander of Oldenburg, in 
combination with a brigade from Loftcha under General 
Dondeville. The town was captured at six o'clock in the 
evening of November 24th, with an insignificant loss, the 
Turks retreating in disorder. Etropol, which gives its 
name to this portion of the Balkan range, is a place of 
great strategical importance, commanding the northern en- 
trance to the two passes leading respectively to Baba- 
Konak and to Slatitza. General Gourko arrived at Etro- 
pol on the day succeeding its capture and made that town 
his head-quarters for several weeks. General Bauch occu- 
pied Orkhanieh on the 24th, and took measures to make the 
Pravitza Pass impregnable against any Turkish force that 
could be brought against it. Two miles west of Orkhanieh, 
at the mouth of the Baba-Konak Pass, the Turks had 



630 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



strongly fortified the village of Vrachesi, as well as the 
neighboring village of Lutakovo, but they evacuated them 
both November 29th, on the approach of the Russian 
General Ellis, who pursued them the following day as far 
as Arab-Konak, a strong position in the Baba-Konak Pass. 

Meanwhile, a Russian force from Etropol, under General 
Dondeville, with the aid of the Bulgarian villagers, had 
succeeded, after forty-eight hours' hard tugging, in placing 
a battery on the height of Grevta, or Greot, to the east of 
the Turkish redoubts, and cannonading at short range was 
carried on for several days. 

Mehemet Ali was at Kamarli, midway between the 
southern entrances of the passes to Orkhanieh and Etropol, 
in a strongly-fortified position which he held throughout 
the month of December. General Karassoff having gone 
through the Slatitza Pass without opposition, occupied the 
important town of the same name on December 3d. 
Thence he proceeded vigorously to attack the eastern flank 
of Mehemet Ali's position the same day, while a violent 
cannonade in front, from the heights occupied by Donde- 
ville and Rauch, covered a gallant assault upon the west of 
the same line. The fighting before Kamarli was continued 
until December 7th, when a pause ensued until after the 
fall of Plevna. 

During the first half of November there was little fight- 
ing in Bulgaria, except the engagement just described. 
Artillery engagements took place at intervals in the Shipka 
Pass, and on November 11th, Lehman Pasha, commander 
of the Turkish artillery, was killed. The bombardment 
of Rustchuk was also occasionally continued. The ad- 
vanced guard of General Zimmerman approached Silistria, 
and some outpost firing occurred November 11th and 12th. 

The inaction on the Lorn, after lasting nearly a month, was 
broken by the Turks advancing in the direction of Pirgos. 



BATTLE OF MECHKA. 



631 



On November 15th, the Turkish cavalry attacked the Rus- 
sian posts at Solenik and Katzelyevo, and drove them be- 
yond the Lorn, but the latter position was recovered the 
same day. Sixteen Turkish battalions under Salem Pasha, 
from Rustchuk, Bassarbovo and Chiflik, attacked, on the 
19th, the Russian outposts covering Pirgos, with results 
which are very differently stated by the respective sides. 
The Turkish commander claimed to have " destroyed the 
first and second Russian lines of intrenchment, driving out 
the enemy at the point of the bayonet," and afterwards 
" carried the Russian fortifications on the Mechka heights, 
after a desperate struggle, and destroyed 70 casemates con- 
taining ammunition, war material and provisions." He 
also claimed to have dislodged the Russians from a position 
near Yovan-Chiflik, defeated their cavalry near Tirnova and 
repulsed a Russian attack upon Kadikoi. On the other 
hand, the Russian official dispatch stated that after a stub- 
born engagement, lasting from nine A. M. to six P. M., 
the Turks were completely repulsed at every point. The 
most material result, however, is unquestionable that 
during the day the Turks entered Pirgos and reduced it 
to ashes, which, to say the least, could only have been ac- 
complished through astounding weakness, carelessness or 
incapacity on the part of the Russians. 

A week later, the attack upon Pirgos was renewed. Ac- 
cording to the Russian official bulletin, " at nine A. M., on 
the morning of November 26th, the Turks, with a large 
force, attacked the Russian fortified positions at Trestenik 
and Mechka. After a severely-contested engagement, 
lasting six hours, the Russian troops, under the command 
of the Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, succeeded in 
brilliantly repulsing the enemy, and then, assuming the 
offensive, pursued the Turks until it became quite dark, 
notwithstanding the long range of the Turkish artillery, 



632 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



which covered their retreat. The affair was of a serious 
character, and is considered very creditable to the 12th 
Army Corps. In recognition of this affair, the Emperor 
has conferred upon the Grand Dake Vladimir the order of 
St. George of the third class." 

That this " affair " was " of a serious character " there 
can be no question, but it may well be doubted whether the 
honor conferred upon the youthful Prince, should not have 
been limited to a Cross of St. George of the fourth or fifth 
class, if such there be. Suleiman Pasha's official account, 
which we subjoin, gives a very different view of the same 
engagement. 

" Asov Pasha having received orders to make an attack 
on the forces of the Czarewitch, which occupied Mechka, 
Tirstenik and Damogila, placed his right wing, consisting 
of thirty battalions of infantry and five batteries, under 
the command of Ibrahim Pasha, and disposed seven bat- 
talions of infantry, two batteries and a regiment of cavalry 
on his left wing. Prince Hassan, with six battalions of 
infantry, two batteries and a squadron of cavalry, formed 
the reserve. To Salem Pasha was intrusted the duty of 
attacking, in front, the fortifications of Pirgos. In the 
meantime, the Russian forces were disposed as follows : On 
the right wing were posted twelve battalions of infantry, 
two regiments of cavalry and three batteries ; on the left, 
fourteen battalions of infantry and three regiments of cav- 
alry, and the centre was composed of six battalions of 
infantry and two batteries. Salem Pasha, in obedience to 
his orders, attacked the fortifications at Pirgos, drove the 
enemy from the works, and pursued him towards Mechka. 
Large Russian reinforcements, however, came up at this 
moment, and the batteries at Parapano, on the Roumanian 
bank of the Danube, opened fire on the Turks, whereupon 
a general battle ensued. The heavy fire of the enemy 



THE LINES BEFOKE PLEVNA. 



633 



causing ravages in the Turkish lines, the Ottoman troops 
were recalled to their former positions. The right wing, 
under Ibrahim Pasha, and the left wing maintained the 
attack upon the Russians until the evening, eventually 
forcing them to retire to Mechka and Tirstenik, but a rein- 
forcement of sixteen fresh Russian battalions from Biela 
made their appearance towards three o'clock, when the 
Turks assumed the defensive. The battle ceased at seven 
o'clock in the evening. An attempt made by the Russians 
to send reinforcements across the Danube in a boat was 
foiled by two companies of sharpshooters hidden in am- 
bush on the bank of the river. The Russians lost 2,000 
men, and on our side 290 were killed and 854 wounded." 

We must now return to the well-remembered scene on 
the Loftcha road south of Plevna, to witness a new exhi- 
bition of the valor of SkobelefF. 

After the repulse of September 11th, that general had 
been ordered to fall back from his advanced positions to 
Tuchenitza, east of the Loftcha road, from which it was 
separated by an impassable ravine. "When he again ad- 
vanced to occupy his old positions he found in his front, 
not three, but seven redoubts, the Turks having taken ad- 
vantage of the interval to construct four new ones. Sko- 
beleff succeeded, however, in occupying Brestovec, on the 
west of the road, in constructing a redoubt in front and on 
the left of that village, and in running a line of trenches 
across the road to the Tuchenitza ravine. The Brestovec 
redoubt was just opposite the Turkish Krishine redoubt, 
distant about 1,300 yards, and it formed a salient angle 
projecting into the Turkish lines. To strengthen such an 
exposed position was an object of importance, and the best 
way of doing so seemed to be by seizing the so-called 
Green Hill, a small wooded summit between the Loftcha 
road and the Tuchenitza ravine. Between that road and 



634 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



the Krisiiine redoubt was a higher summit, the same on 
which Skobeleff had planted two batteries in September. 
On it the Turks had constructed a strong redoubt, while 
they had defended the Green Hill by immense trenches, 
holding, probably, 7,000 men. A combined movement 
was arranged with General Gourko, who, on November 
1st, had moved from Teliche towards Plevna, and occupied 
the heights a mile west of the Vid, which completely com- 
manded the bridge over that river south of Olkagas, the 
only avenue by which the garrison could escape towards 
the Balkans. This step had completed the formal invest- 
ment of Plevna, but Gourko now proposed to shorten the 
line to his eastward by advancing closer to the bridge, 
under cover of a fire all along the line, while Skobeleff 
should divide the attention of the besieged on his front. 

The attack was fixed for five P. M., on November 9th. 
The weather had been fine for several days, but on the ap- 
pointed day a thick, heavy fog hung over the lines and 
rendered it impossible to see ten yards off. All the fore- 
noon the troops moved in small detachments towards the 
place of concentration. What followed shall be told in 
the eloquent words of a correspondent of the Daily News, 
who had apparently replaced Mr. Forbes. He writes from 
Brestovec, November 10th : 

" The fog effectually concealed the hostile lines from one 
another, and the batteries were silent. To us, who were 
waiting, this silence was ominous, for it was broken by the 
muffled tramp of men and words of command as the de- 
tachments went away into the fog. At three o'clock, the 
ragged red and yellow flag was taken from its place by the 
side of the door of the low mud hovel occupied by General 
Skobeleff, and the staff assembled to inspect the troops and 
to accompany the General, who was to conduct the attack 
in person. It was a most picturesque and romantic caval- 



skobeleff's instructions. 



635 



cade that filed out of the yard and followed the young 
leader out to certain danger and possible death. General 
Skobeleff, alike heedless of cold and damp and whizzing 
missiles, was the only one who was not bundled up in over- 
coat and capuchon. He led the way through the narrow 
alleys of the village, mounted on a white horse — the 
soldiers look for the white horse as much as for their be- 
loved commander — confident, cheerful, inspiriting to look 
upon. Behind him a motley retinue; Circassians w r ith 
long surtout and silver-mounted harness and weapons; 
blonde youths already scarred and covered with decora- 
tions, correspondents in civil dress, Cossacks half-hidden in 
their gray coats and hoods, and, in the middle of the 
group, a picturesque Circassian on a white horse, bearing 
the tattered banner, quite like an old crusader, with his 
quaint arms and curious dress. The flag, too, is quite me- 
diaeval in appearance, and completed the illusion to perfec- 
tion. It is a square silk banner, fastened to a Cossack's 
lance, and has on the one side the white cross of St. George, 
and on the other the letters M. C. (Michael Skobeleff), 
and the date 1875, in yellow on a red ground. The tat- 
tered silk was carried through the Khokand campaign, and 
has fluttered in all the hard fights which have made the 
young General so famous. 

" It was a dramatic and intensely impressive scene, these 
square masses of earnest men, every one with his eyes fixed 
on the face of the General, who passed before them all 
with the customary greeting, which was answered with a 
will like one voice from the battalion, in turn. General 
Skobeleff dismounted and told the men just what he ex- 
pected of them — that they were not to storm the works of 
Plevna, but only to run forward and take the piece of 
ground they knew perfectly well, in front of the road, 
and to hold it until they had works thrown up. He cau- 



636 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



tioned them, as many were young soldiers, sent out from 
the reserves to fill the great gaps in the ranks, not to ad- 
vance too far, but to mind exactly what the officers told 
them. He would be with them himself, and would direct 
the movements personally. Surely a finer lot of men never 
went into a fight ; young, healthy, devoted and confident, 
every face wore an expression that was a proof of courage 
and earnestness and even religious zeal. As we stood there 
the darkness rapidly increased, and it was nearly five 
o'clock as the troops moved forward at quick pace in front 
of the General and staff. As the men passed, they all 
received encouraging words, and they went by smiling at 
the good-natured chaff from the General, who called to 
them by name, remarked on their new boots, which he said 
were like those of a Spanish don, and told the musicians 
they would play a waltz in the new redoubts on the 
morrow. 

" As the soldiers went down over the hill to the trenches, 
to await the opening salvo of artillery, we took our place — 
a little knot of non-combatants — in the trenches on the hill, 
alongside the battery which was to give the signal for the 
assault. The hot breath of sixteen field-pieces scorched our 
faces as the opening salvo shook the heavy air, then came 
a cheer on the right, just down in the hollow, and the 
singing of bullets filled the air over our heads. We were 
seated in the trench of the picket line, and, when the bul- 
lets began to chip off the twigs on the top of the breast- 
work, and plump into the earth at our feet, we began to 
look about us to see what we were depending on for sup- 
port. Only a thin line of men were lying against the dirt, 
rifle in hand, anxiously trying to see some object in front 
to shoot at. An officer came along and extinguished all 
the fires, and kept cautioning and encouraging the men, 
ordering them to stop firing and to watch. The musketry 



CAPTURE OF THE GEEEN HILL. 



637 



rattled and roared in the hollow and off on the green hill 
on the right, and sounded like the surging of a storm. 
The battery alongside kept banging away, deafening us, 
and blinding us with the flash. In the dense fog every 
noise was magnified, and as the shells screamed past us and 
exploded with a sharp, ringing sound behind us in the vil- 
lage, it seemed as if they were ten times the ordinary size. 
Down below, in the hollow, we could see no flash, only 
from that darkness came a hot spitting of lead that made it 
almost certain death to face. The fog began to condense 
and gather on the ground, and the cold increased, and still 
the battle roared, and rose, and fell, ceased and began 
again. At last it was evident from the firing that the posi- 
tion was taken, and we retired to the village to the music 
of the shells and bullets, and up to our little camp as 
quickly as possible." 

Early in November, a portion of the Roumanian troops 
went upon a reconnoissance towards the north-west. Their 
first signal engagement with the Turks occurred at Rahova, 
on the Danube, which they carried, on the 21st, after 
a severe and protracted battle, lasting three entire days, in 
which both assailants and defenders fought with great 
bravery. Leaving a strong garrison, the Roumanians 
pushed on to Sibra, or Tzebar Palanka, where they found 
no enemy, the Turks having withdrawn to Lorn Palanka, 
a little farther up the Danube. The Roumanians pushed 
on and drove the Turks from the works. This left but 
one important fortified position north-west of Plevna, 
namely, the well-known fortress of Widdin. The Rou- 
manians intended to invest and, if possible, to take this 
also, but were stopped from further advance by orders 
from Plevna. 

Thus, December 1st saw the Russians in undisputed 
possession of the entire country between the Danube and 



638 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



tlie Balkans on the north and south, the River Lom on 
the east and the river of the same name on the west, while, 
besides the army of Ghazi Osman in Plevna, the Turks 
had their Army of the Lom beyond the extreme east, a 
force of uncertain number in Widdin, beyond the extreme 
west, and an army said to be upwards of 30,000 strong, 
under Mehemet Ali, south of the Etropol Balkans. 

Of the Russian and Roumanian forces, about 120,000 
men were operating directly against Plevna, in the works 
environing that town and through the district west of the 
line Mcopolis-Trojan ; perhaps 70,000, under the Czare- 
witch, confronted the Turkish Army of the Lom ; a divi- 
sion, under General Radetsky, held the Shipka and Hain- 
koi Passes, and a large reserve occupied Tirnova, Sistova 
and the road connecting them. 

We return to the immediate vicinity of Plevna, and 
quote a letter from a correspondent of the Daily News, 
dated Dolni-Dubnik, November 16th, by way of an intro- 
duction to the story of the fall of Plevna : 

" Since the seizure of the Green Hill by Skobeleff, no 
important movement has been undertaken by the Russians. 
The Turks have made three attacks upon SkobelefFs posi- 
tion on three successive nights, but were each time repulsed 
with heavy loss. The defense of this new position is most 
successful and brilliant, and the position itself is of more 
importance than I was at first disposed to acknowledge. 
Skobeleff remains night after night in the trenches, and 
has succeeded in pushing his lines up to within one hun- 
dred yards of the Turks. 

" The circle of investment is now drawn as close as can be 
without actually besieging the Turkish positions. Never- 
theless, in only two places, at the Gravitza redoubt and on 
SkobelefFs positions, are they within speaking distance of 
each other. There has been very little artillery-fire during 



BOMBARDMENT OF PLEVNA. 



639 



the last two days, and Todleben seems to have abandoned 
his plan of concentrated volley firing upon specified points, 
and only puts it in practice once in forty-eight hours. De- 
serters coming in from the front of Plevna, report that the 
soldiers receive three-quarters of a pound of bread daily, 
and a small piece of meat twice a week. They complain 
bitterly of the privations to which they are subjected.'' 

The " concentrated volley firing " was adopted by Gen- 
eral Todleben immediately upon the completion of the 
circle of environment and the establishment of the connect- 
ing telegraph : there were about 400 guns in position around 
Plevna; Todleben divided the entire works into sections 
of about 100 guns each ; at intervals throughout the day, 
some one and another point was selected to receive the fire, 
the telegraph conveyed the general's orders to the section- 
commanders, whereupon there was a terrific report, from 
100 to 400 guns belched forth flame, and from 100 to 400 
shells and shot went simultaneously to the spot indicated — 
wherever the Turkish reserves or any mass of troops, or a 
quantity of supplies, could be observed, that would be the 
spot selected, and it is easy to imagine the appalling effect. 

Our information of what was transpiring within Plevna 
in the critical moments preceding its fall is exceedingly de- 
fective. All the "war correspondents" had abandoned 
the doomed city long before, and even the Bed Cross phy- 
sicians had been sent by Ghazi Osman to Sophia in Octo- 
ber. From the statement made to a correspondent of the 
Daily News by Edhem Pasha, one of Osman's ablest gen- 
erals, we learn that shortly previous to the sortie, which 
resulted in surrender, a council of war was held, consisting 
of eight Pashas and the civil authorities of the town. "Os- 
man Pasha informed them that his store of bread was 
coming to an end, and that very little big-gun ammunition 
was left. It was for them to decide, should they lay down 



640 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



their arms or make a sortie in the only practicable place, 
across the Vid north of the Sophia road. The sortie was de- 
cided on. On the night of the 9th, 32,000 Turks, all the 
available force except a skeleton garrison for some of the 
redoubts, assembled in the valley of Plevna — 26,000 in- 
fantry, 6,000 artillery. At two o'clock this army com- 
menced crossing the Vid by five bridges, the permanent 
stone one and four temporary ones. The temporary were 
placed one just up stream to the south of the stone bridge, 
the other three dividing the distance between the stone 
bridge and a line drawn from Opanetz fort straight to the 
river. As the regiments crossed the Vid they deployed 
into line, and they did this in so orderly a manner that the 
Cossack videttes, who were but three hundred yards away, 
were not aware of their vicinity till the skirmishers of the 
Turks advanced to within one hundred yards of them. 
The Cossacks then retired firing. At this time the posi- 
tion of the Turkish forces was as follows : 1st, a line of 
skirmishers; 2d, a line of battalions in line; 3d, three 
guns in rear of right of line of infantry ; three guns in 
rear of centre of line of infantry; three guns in rear of 
left of line of infantry. These guns were not used till 
after passing the first Russian line. The Turks depended 
on one gun in the small bastion below Opanetz redoubt, 
five on the south slope of the Opanetz redoubt, these con- 
stituting the right of the Turkish attack ; eleven guns in 
two batteries on the high ground on the Plevna side of the 
permanent bridge, these constituting the left of the Turk- 
ish attack. The positions of the Turkish generals were as 
follows: Commencing from the rear of the army one 
Pasha was on the high ground above the bridge, with 
the eleven guns I have mentioned ; one on the right, with 
the six guns on the slope of Opanetz ; two in the plain 
below superintending the crossing. On the right of the 



EDHEM PASHA'S ACCOUNT. 



641 



attacking line was one Pasha ; in the centre, one ; on the 
left were two and Osman Pasha. As the attacking line 
advanced, carts containing ammunition and necessary bag- 
gage crossed the permanent bridge, and with them num- 
bers of carts belonging to the inhabitants of Plevna, and 
containing their wives, children and household goods, in 
all to the number of 4,000, pressed forward and crossed as 
fast as possible. These latter Osman Pasha was powerless 
to prevent crossing, for as soon as his troops were with- 
drawn from Plevna they insisted on following. At day- 
break, a little before eight, the fighting began. The 
bridge was swept by the Russian artillery, killing men, 
women and children, horses and oxen. At nine, No. 2 
bridge, counting the bridge below Opanetz as No. 1, was 
broken by the Roumanian battery of five guns, situated to 
the right of the Turkish attack. The Turks steadily ad- 
vanced, and carried the first Russian lines. Again they 
advanced, and carried two batteries of six guns each in the 
second line. For two hours the fight raged between the 
second and third line of the Russians in favor of neither 
side. At this critical time the Turkish shells ran short ; 
this enabled the Roumanians to turn their left flank, to 
get possession of Opanetz, and the hard-fought day was 
decided against the Turks. Osman Pasha was wounded in 
the leg, the same bullet killing his horse, a present from 
the Sultan. . Ten thousand Turks had not crossed the Vid 
when they laid down their arms." 

This result was not unexpected at Constantinople. As 
early as November 8th the Ottoman Government is said to 
have relinquished all hope of continuing to hold Plevna, 
and had ordered Mehemet Ali " to break through the lines 
which engirdle Plevna, and protect Osman's retreat" — an 
order easily given, but impossible of execution by a com- 
mander who had not enough force, as the sequel proved, 
41 



642 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



to bar the advance of Gourko to Sophia. Osman's own 
account of the motives of his decision is tersely given in a 
paragraph of a dispatch which he was allowed to send to his 
brother-in-law, Biza Bey, under date of December 13th : 
46 You must know we were completely blockaded in Plevna 
for six weeks. During all this time we received no outside 
help, and all our attempts to make a sortie remained with- 
out result. Our provisions being totally exhausted, I deter- 
mined to make a supreme effort to break the iron line 
surrounding us on every side." 

We turn to the accounts of this "supreme effort" as 
viewed from a Russian stand-point, and here our materials 
are ample but our space limited. Mr. MacGahan, as 
usual, supplies the most brilliant narrative of the crowning 
event of the war, dated at Plevna, Monday night, Decem- 
ber 10th, and sent by telegraph to the Daily News. From 
it we select some vivid passages: 

" The Russians knew on Friday night that Osman Pasha 
was preparing for a sortie, and, on their part, made every pre- 
paration to receive him. The trenches were kept full of troops 
day and night, division and regimental commanders were 
advised to be on the alert, and all the posts were doubled 
and trebled. These measures were taken on Friday night, 
but Saturday passed without any movement being discern- 
ible among the Turks. Sunday passed in the same way. 
The Russians were anxiously on the watch with the usual 
amount of artillery-fire, to which the Turks have not re- 
plied for a long time. About noon on Sunday the clouds 
thickened, and the dark masses discharged themselves in 
the first snow-storm of the season. 

" I rode around the lines, between the hours of three 
and five, from Grivitza, through Radisovo, to Brestovec, on 
the Loftcha road. The sky was barely discernible through 
the gloom, and I had considerable difficulty in finding my 



EVACUATION OF PLEVNA. 



643 



way through the storm and the obscurity to Ozendol, Sko- 
beleff 's head-quarters. 

" The night wore slowly away. The snow-storm ceased, 
and was followed by dark clouds scudding swiftly across 
the sky, with now and then a blast of sleet. At three 
o'clock, a spy brought news that the men of SkobelefFs 
command had a position on the side of the Green Hill, and 
that the Krishina redoubts were being abandoned. He was 
very sure, he said, that all the positions along our side 
would shortly be abandoned. Would he go along and lead 
the way into the Krishina redoubts at the risk of being 
bayoneted if his words should not prove true ? Yes, he 
would, and orders were given by Skobeleff for the troops to 
begin to move cautiously forward, and feel their way with 
care. This was done, and the positions were taken. 

" The gray light of morning came. It was cloudy and 
threatened more snow. We mounted our horses and rode 
towards the battle. It was in the direction of the bridge 
over the Vid, on the Sophia road, and half an hour's ride 
brought us in sight of the conflict. A terrible and sub- 
lime spectacle presented itself to our view. The country 
behind Plevna is a wide, open plain, into which the gorge 
leading up to Plevna opens out like a tunnel. The plain 
is bounded on the Plevna side by steep, rocky bluffs, or 
cliffs, along whose foot flows the Vid. From these cliffs, 
for a distance of two miles, burst here and there, in quick, 
irregular succession, angry spurts of flame, that flashed and 
disappeared and flashed out again thick as fire-flies on a 
tropical night. Now and then, through an irregular curv- 
ing stream of fire, we had indistinct glimpses of bodies of 
men hurrying to and fro, horses, cattle, carriages running 
across the plain, and above all, the infernal crashing roll 
of the infantry-fire, and the deep booming of more than a 
hundred guns. 



644 



.THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



" Osman Pasha had, during the night, abandoned all his 
positions, from Grivitza to the Green Hill, and concen- 
trated the greater part of his army across the Vid, over 
which he passed on two bridges, one the old, and the other 
the new one lately constructed. He took part of his 
artillery, some three batteries and a train of about five or 
six hundred carriages drawn by bullocks. He succeeded in 
getting his army, the artillery and part of the trains over 
by daybreak. 

" The Turks then did a splendid deed of bravery, only 
equaled by SkobelefFs capture of the two famous redoubts. 
They dashed forward with a shout upon the line of trenches 
held by the Sibrersky or Siberian Regiment, swept over them 
like a tornado, poured into the battery, bayoneted the artil- 
lery-men, officers and men, who with desperate heroism, stood 
to their pieces to nearly a man, and seized the whole bat- 
tery. The Sibrersky Regiment had been overthrown and 
nearly annihilated. The Turks had broken the first circle 
that held them in. Had they gone on they would have 
found two more; but they did not have time to go on. 
The Russians rallied almost immediately. 

" General Strukoff, of the Emperor's staff, brought up 
the 1st Brigade of Grenadiers, who, led by their general — 
I forget his name, but the Russians will remember it — 
flung themselves on the Turks with fury. A hand-to-hand 
fight ensued, man to man, bayonet to bayonet, which is 
said to have lasted several minutes, for the Turks clung to 
the captured guns with dogged obstinacy. They seem to 
have forgotten in the fury of battle that they had come out 
to escape from Plevna, and not to take and hold a battery, 
and they held on to the guns with almost the same despera- 
tion which the Russian dead around them had shown a 
few minutes before. Nearly all the Turks in the battle 
were killed. 



SURRENDER OF GHAZI OSMAN. 



645 



" About twelve o'clock the firing began to diminish on 
both sides, as if by mutual agreement. Then it 'stopped 
entirely. It had not ceased more than half an hour when 
a white flag was seen waving from the road leading around 
the cliffs beyond the bridge. Plevna had fallen and Osman 
Pasha was going to surrender. 

" A long, loud shout went up from the Russian Army 
when the white flag was seen and its significance was 
understood — a joyous shout that swept over that dreary 
plain, and was echoed back sonorously by the sullen, rugged 
cliffs overhanging the scene. The thrill of gladness in the 
shout showed how deeply the Russian soldiers had dreaded 
the long, weary waiting through the winter months, among 
snow and mud, round this impregnable stronghold. It was 
clear that a load had been lifted from every heart." 

After an interesting account of the reception by the 
Russian generals of Tefik Bey, Osman's Chief of Staff and 
Parlamentaire, who communicated the information that 
Osman was lying wounded in a small house close to the 
bridge over the Vid, and of the actual negotiations for the 
surrender conducted by General Strukoff, of the Emperor's 
staff, Mr. MacGahan thus narrates the meeting between 
the Grand Duke Nicholas and his prisoner : 

" There was another halt in our slow onward progress 
and the cry was heard ' Osman.' I pushed forward to find 
that it was indeed Osman Pasha, who, having heard that 
the Grand Duke was coming in this direction, had turned 
back in his carriage to meet him. Osman Pasha was es- 
corted by fifty Cossacks, and there followed him twenty-five 
or thirty Turkish officers, all mounted on diminutive Turk- 
ish ponies. They were all, or nearly all, young men. 
Scarcely one- among them seemed over thirty. Most had 
the faces of mere boy students. 'Are these the lads/ I 
inwardly exclaimed, 6 with whom Osman Pasha has ac- 



646 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



complished such wonders V The Grand Duke rode up to 
the carriage, and for some seconds the two chiefs gazed into 
each other's faces without the utterance of a word. Then 
the Grand Duke stretched out his hand, and shook the 
hand of Osman Pasha heartily and said : 'I compli- 
ment you on your defense of Plevna. It is one of the 
most splendid military feats in history.' Osman Pasha 
smiled sadly, rose painfully to his feet in sj}ite of his 
wound, said something which I could not hear, and then 
re-seated himself. The Russian officers all cried, ' Bravo !' 
' Bravo !' repeatedly, and all saluted respectfully. There 
was not one among them who did not gaze on the Hero of 
Plevna with the greatest admiration and sympathy. Prince 
Charles, who had arrived, rode up, and repeated unwit- 
tingly almost every word of the Grand Duke, and likewise 
shook hands. Osman Pasha again rose and bowed, this 
time in grim silence. 

" He wore a loose blue cloak, with no apparent mark on 
it to designate his rank, and a red fez. He is a large, 
strongly-built man, the lower part of whose face is covered 
with a short black beard, without a streak of gray. He has 
a large Boman nose and black eyes. The face is a strong 
face, with energy and determination stamped on every 
feature — yet a tired, wan face also, with lines on it that 
hardly were graven so deep, I fancy, five months ago ; and 
with a sad, enduring, thoughtful look out of the black eyes. 

" ' It is a grand face/ exclaimed Colonel Gaillard, the 
French military attache. ' I was almost afraid of seeing 
him lest my expectation should be disappointed, but he 
more than fulfills my ideal/ 

" ' It is the face of a great military chieftain,' said young 
SkobelefT. 6 I am glad to have seen him. Osman Gbazi 
he is, and Osman the Victorious he will remain, in spite of 
his surrender.' " 



THE TROPHIES OF PLEVNA. 



647 



The total number of prisoners, according to the official 
report, was : " Ten pashas, 128 superior officers, 2,000 offi- 
cers, 30,000 soldiers, 1,200 cavalry," besides which there 
were 77 guns, a considerable amount of ammunition and a 
full supply of equipments of war — the only sort of supply 
that was exhausted was provisions. The number of pris- 
oners as given is exclusive of the sick and seriously 
wounded, of whom there were about 20,000. The vigor 
and persistence of this final effort of Ghazi Osman and his 
men is attested by the fact that they lost more than 4,000 
in killed alone. Well, indeed, did the Russian official 
account say : " Osman Pasha's attempt to break through 
our lines was heroic and worthy of the whole of his pre- 
vious defense. The Turks fought like lions," etc. The 
Russian official account stated : " The capture of Plevna 
has cost us 2 superior officers, 8 officers and 182 soldiers 
killed ; 5 superior officers, 40 officers and 1,207 soldiers 
wounded." 

The Czar was at Tuchenitza, and the news of the capture 
of Plevna and surrender of Osman was sent to him by 
an officer of Uhlans, who briefly reported : " Plevna is at 
your Majesty's feet !" to which the Emperor is said to have 
replied : " But the war is not yet over, for all that !" The 
Emperor hastened to Plevna, greeted the troops, kissed 
Prince Charles, calling him cousin., and embraced Todle- 
ben, Imeritinsky and Granetski, saying : " This is all due 
to you ; above all, to thee, Edward Ivanikoff Todleben !" 

The news of the capture of Plevna and its defenders 
occasioned the natural rejoicing among the Russians and 
their allies. In Plevna itself, at Bucharest and at Bel- 
grade, the demonstrations were most enthusiastic. But, in 
the midst of the rejoicing in Plevna, there were 20,000 
poor wretches suffering, many of them dying for want of 
attention, and no one thought of them or their misery. 



CHAPTEE XXII. 



THE ADVANCE ON SOPHIA AND ADEIANOPLE. 

Plevna had fallen on the 9th of December. The im- 
mediate consequence was a circular note from the Porte, 
dated December 12th, addressed to the European Powers 
which had signed the treaties of 1856 and 1871, soliciting 
their mediation for the conclusion of peace. It is thus sum- 
marized by an able pen : 

" The Imperial Government is conscious of having done 
nothing to provoke war ; it has done everything to avoid it; 
it has sought vainly to discover Russia's motives in her ag- 
gressive campaign. The Porte has shown its desire for im- 
provement by reorganizing its judicial system, by devising 
reforms, without distinction of race or religion, according 
to the constitution, which has everywhere been well re- 
ceived. A partial reform is of no avail ; the adoption of 
improvements in one part of the empire only, would be a 
premium to other communities to revolt. Any doubt as 
to the execution of these reforms should disappear before 
the solemn declarations which the Porte now makes. The 
state of war simply retards such reforms, and is disastrous 
to the country generally, destroying agricultural interests, 
killing industry and ruining financial reorganizations. 
Independently of these arrangements for reform, what 
reason can there be for continuing the war ? Russia has 
declared she is not animated by a spirit of conquest. The 
military honor of both sides must be abundantly satisfied. 

648 



THE SULTAN'S APPEAL FOR PEACE. 



649 



What object can there be in prolonging a contest ruinous 
to both countries ? The moment has arrived for the bellig- 
erent powers to accept peace without affecting their dignity. 
Europe might now usefully interpose her good offices, 
since the Porte is ready to come to terms. The country is 
not at the end of its resources and is still prepared to fight 
in its own defense ; it is ready, moreover, to sacrifice all 
for the independence and integrity of the fatherland. But 
the Porte is desirous to stop the further effusion of blood, 
and therefore appeals to the feelings of justice which must 
animate the Great Powers, hoping they will receive these 
overtures favorably.'' 

An official dispatch, dated December 17th, contains 
the following postscript to the note : 

" Erroneous interpretations having been given to the 
circular dispatch, by which the Porte expresses a desire for 
peace and requests the mediation of the Powers, it is ex- 
plained, that Turkey does not approach the Powers as a 
vanquished State, since she still has tw r o lines of defense 
which the government believes it would be able to hold. 
It is pointed out that by its circular dispatch the Porte 
desires to intimate its willingness to take into consideration 
the proposals made by the conference. As the w r ar began 
owing to Turkey's refusal to adhere to those proposals, the 
Porte thinks it might be terminated now by concessions on 
that basis.". 

It is ludicrous to remark the gravity with which the 
Porte proposes to ignore all the tremendous reverses of the 
year, and to " accept peace without affecting her dignity " 
on the basis of " taking into consideration " the proposals 
made by all all the Great Powers before the war. It was 
not thus that peace was to be secured and those " two lines 
of defense," in which the Porte so confidently trusted, were 
presently to fail her in her utmost need. She would soon 



650 THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 

be convinced that while all the Powers were greatly in- 
terested in Turkey, they were able to draw a distinction 
between Turkey and the Ottoman Government. The 
overtures for peace were coldly received at all the Euro- 
pean capitals, and led to no immediate result. But from 
this date, the cabinets were continuously engaged for many 
months in discussing, not with the Porte, but with the 
Czar, the manner in which the fruits of victory were to be 
divided among the interested parties. 

Almost at the moment of the fall of Plevna two im- 
portant events took place on the line of the Lorn, which 
must here be noticed. The large and important town of 
Elena lies at the foot of the Balkans, at the northern 
entrance to the Hainkoi Pass, about fifteen miles south- 
east of Tirnova. It had been continuously in Russian 
possession since its occupation preliminary to General 
Gourko's raid in July. Suleiman Pasha now determined 
to make another effort for the relief of Plevna by piercing 
the line of the Czarewitch at Tirnova, and achieved, at Elena, 
the most important victory that had crowned the Turkish 
arms since the great day of September 11th, at Plevna. At 
seven o'clock, on the morning of December 4th, three Turk- 
ish brigades, under Eeschid, Renzi and Hussein Pashas, ap- 
proached Elena from the eastward, attacked the positions 
at Mariani (or Mahren), held by Prince Mirsky with two 
regiments, compelled him to fall back on Elena, which 
they proceeded to invest on three sides. After eight hours' 
hard fighting Prince Mirsky had to retreat to Yakovitza, 
a fortified position at the entrance to a gorge, and the 
Turks occupied Elena, capturing, according to their own 
account, 11 guns, 20 ammunition-wagons and 300 prison- 
ers, besides inflicting upon the Russians a loss of 3,000 
men hors de combat. The Russians admitted a loss of 2,000 
men. On the following morning, December 5th, a vigor- 



BATTLES AROUND ELENA. 



651 



ous but unsuccessful attempt was made to force Mirsky's 
position at Yakovitza, the fighting lasting all day. It was 
renewed during the three following days, but the Prince 
having received reinforcements maintained his post, and 
the chief effort to reach Tirnova was made at other points. 
A Turkish division from Osman Bazar advanced, on Decem- 
ber 5th, to Kesrova, on the direct road westward to Tirnova; 
the Russian garrison of six battalions fell back after destroy- 
ing the bridge over the Yantra, and the place was occupied 
by the Turks. Another Turkish division, estimated at 
10,000 men, occupied, December 6th, the town of Slataritza, 
at the angle of the northern road from Elena to Tirnova. 
The Russian 11th Corps, under General Deltinghausen, 
arrived at Yakovitza the same day, and a detachment from 
it drove back the Turks from Slataritza to Bebrova. Re- 
inforcements were also received by the Turks before Yako- 
vitza, but their efforts to carry that strong position were 
fruitless, and, on receiving news of the fall of Plevna, 
Suleiman burned and evacuated Elena. 

Simultaneously with the capture of that town Suleiman 
had made a demonstration against the centre of the Czare- 
witch's army at Sarnasuflar, Solenik and Verbovka, and 
for the third time made an attempt upon Pirgos. On the 
11th, the Turkish forces, resting upon Kadikoi and Sole- 
nik as their head-quarters, crossed the Lorn near Yovan- 
Chiflik. The Russian right was at Damogila, the left flank 
rested upon the Danube before Pirgos, and the centre was 
in front of Tirstenik. There were in line four brigades of 
Russian infantry, six batteries of field artillery, and three 
or four regiments of cavalry. The Grand Duke Vladimir 
commanded in person, with General Kosich as chief of 
staff, and occupied a height near Tirstenik. On the 12th, 
the Turks advanced against the Russians, between Tir- 
stenik and Mechka. Their chief effort was to possess them- 



652 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



selves of the latter village, which was strongly intrenched. 
The Turkish artillery was abundant, and well served ; the 
Russian also distinguished itself, and carried off the chief 
honors of the engagement. Six times the Turkish in- 
fantry charged with desperate bravery against the lines of 
Mechka, and six times were they driven back by a perfect 
storm of shot and shell. At nightfall the Turks were 
driven across the Lorn, pursued by Cossack cavalry, and 
left their intrenchments at Yovan-Chiflik in the hands of 
the Russians. The Turkish loss was very heavy, probably 
more than two thousand, while the Russians suffered but 
slightly. The Grand Duke Vladimir, who commanded at 
this engagement, had now a better claim to the title of 
conqueror than he had achieved on the same field two 
weeks before, and the name of Mechka was conjoined with 
the glories of Shipka, Kars and Plevna upon the triumphal 
arch erected to greet the Czar at Bucharest. 

We left General Gourko at Orkhanieh, on the eve of the 
fall of Plevna, which event he was apparently awaiting 
before attempting the tremendous difficulties of a winter cam- 
paign against Sophia, across the Etropol Balkans. The 
plan of the advance had been long matured, every detail 
most carefully studied, the ground laid out with mathe- 
matical exactness, and only the lack of troops prevented 
the earlier accomplishment of the movement. The whole 
order of the campaign was mainly due to the chief of staff, 
General Naglovsky, who had explicitly assigned to each 
detachment its share in the combined effort, but the physi- 
cal difficulties of the ground ultimately prevented the de- 
tails of the plan from being strictly carried out. 

General Gourko had removed his head-quarters from 
Etropol to Orkhanieh, about December 10th, and the news 
of the surrender of Plevna was received on the following 
morning, with what joy can easily be imagined. "It w T as," 



REJOICINGS ON THE FALL OF PLEVNA. 



653 



says Mr. MacGahan, "as if every one had a weight lifted 
off his heart — a weight that had been lying there four long 
months. Officers embraced each other, soldiers cheered, 
and cheered, and cheered again, and everybody felt free to 
give way to the wildest expressions of delight. General 
Gourko went to the positions with his staff to tell the great 
news to the troops in the bivouac there. He remained with 
Count Schuvaloff, and his aides-de-camp went up into the 
intrenchments with the tidings. When they were told the 
news they jumped upon the parapets and waved their caps 
at the astonished Turks who were close by on the opposite 
ridge, and gave round after round of hurrahs. The sun, 
which had been veiled for days, just at this time shone out 
brightly, and the mist dissipated, giving the opposing lines 
for the first time for a week, a fair sight at each other. 
In the batteries the numbers were ordered to their posts, 
and then, while parapets were lined with men, all waving 
their caps and cheering frantically, volley after volley of 
shell was thrown into the enemy's fortifications, for once a 
joyous and triumphant cannonade. The cheers spread like 
a wave from one end to the other of the line, down in the 
ravines, back in the woods — away on the summits went the 
sound until it became a faint hum in the distance, and died 
away and was renewed again with repeated energy for a 
long while. This was the beginning of the fete, and that day 
nothing that could be eaten and drunk to celebrate the tidings 
was spared." The festivities were immensely improved by 
the arrival the same day of a sutler with an immense train 
of wagons, laden with every kind of groceries, delicacies and 
small wares, and the scene which ensued beggars descrip- 
tion — " colonels and captains, staff officers and surgeons all 
jostling one 'another like so many children at a table full 
of bonbons, burying their arms deep in the cases where the 
sweets were, loading themselves with bottles and parcels, 



654 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



laughing, and talking, and joking all the time. Officers 
splashed with mud, their faces tanned and roughened with 
exposure, dipped into the pots of jam, and broke open the 
boxes of bonbons with laughable earnestness, as if they 
had been denied sweets since childhood, and their early 
taste had only grown stronger from long abstinence. * * 
* * * The Russians have a sweet tooth of extraordi- 
nary dimensions if the amount of preserves and bonbons 
sold by that sutler is any gauge — an exchange of a dozen 
or more Napoleons for a small collection of sweets is fre- 
quently made." 

The winter came on early and with unexampled severity. 
It was soon evident that General Gourko must either ad- 
vance or retire, for life in the bleak mountain bivouacs 
became daily more insupportable, and it was almost impos- 
sible to bring up the supplies and ammunition. Frozen 
hands and feet were numbered by hundreds every morning, 
30 men perished in a single storm, and above 2,000 men 
were sick from exposure at one time. The reinforcements 
deemed indispensible did not arrive until Christmas eve. 
They had been so long expected that the commander was 
impatient of any further delay, and the long-deferred for- 
ward movement began on Christmas morning. 

" Before daylight," says Mr. MacGahan, " the bugles 
sounded the reveille again and again, and soon the infantry 
crowded the streets on the march towards Vrachesi. It 
was bitterly cold and frosty. The fog clung to the houses 
and trees, and the clothing of the soldiers, ana froze there, 
covering every surface with a glistening garment of ]3ure 
white. At nine o'clock General Gourko and his staff left 
the town. It was a rare spectacle, this group of horsemen, 
as they moved slowly along the ice-paved chaussee. The 
aides-de-camp were dressed in the most fantastic costumes. 
Some were in great-coats of dressed skins ornamented with 



A PICTUKESQUE CAVALCADE. 



655 



embroidery and buttons. Some were enveloped in Circas- 
sian cloaks, all doubled up with the weight of additional 
clothing, and with capuchons and wraps about the head. 
General Gourko, leading the group, was alone dressed in a 
simple surtout, without mufflers of any kind. He rode 
along apparently unconscious that the frost was turning his 
beard white and covering himself and horse with frozen 
crystals. It resembled more a carnival cavalcade than a 
general with his staff, the effect being heightened by the 
picturesque Kuban Cossacks in the convoy with their 
sheepskin hats and curious weapons." 

The army had been divided into nine detachments. 
The strongest column, under Gourko's direct command, 
consisted of three detachments, numbering 31 choice bat- 
talions and 40 guns, besides the Kuban Cossacks, one 
squadron of the Caucasian Cossacks and five squadrons of 
dragoons, the advance guard being under the hero of Pra- 
vitza, General Rauch. Two columns, commanded respect- 
ively by General Wilhelminoff and Dondeville, were to 
cross the mountains by different paths, General Schilder- 
Schuldner was to make a demonstration against Lutikova, 
and a fifth column was to remain in position near Slatitza 
to watch Kamarli. The Turks being still in full posses- 
sion of the first pass just south of Orkhanieh, the main 
column was to turn this, by a difficult path, a little to the 
west and debouch into the plain of Sophia at the villages 
of Kuriak, Potok and Stolnik. 

The place of rendezvous on Christmas morning was the 
bivouac of the dragoons, at the point where a stream 
flowing eastward from the Balkans falls into the Dermente 
River at the high road, three miles south of Vrachesi. 
From this point, the " old Sophia road," disused for many 
years and never more than a narrow bridle-path, turns 
westward up the valley of the stream just mentioned, to cross 



656 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



the mountains to Kuriak. For several days, two battalions 
had been occupied grading this path, and cutting steps in 
the ice. A portion of the way was in full sight of the 
Turkish redoubts east of Araba-Konak, and the work 
could only be done at night. It was supposed that cannon 
could be taken up the defile with horses, but experience 
showed the contrary, and the column was delayed nearly 
all day at this point, the way being completely blockaded 
with artillery, which was being hauled up by hand. The 
whole night General Rauch was climbing up and down 
that slippery path, endeavoring, with indifferent success, 
to impart some of his activity to officers and men. The 
infantry soldiers made fires along the path, cooked their 
suppers, scooped holes in the snow and peacefully slept, 
undisturbed by the choruses of the artillery soldiers drag- 
ging up the heavy caissons inch by inch. The entire 
distance to the summit, about four miles, was lined with 
soldiers sleeping on the ice or gathered around small fires 
in the snow. When awakened and ordered to move on, 
they got up with admirable sang-froid, walking a few paces 
and then slept again, dropping down like dead men. 

Towards midnight, General Gourko could no longer en- 
dure the delay, as it was an inrportant part of the plan of 
his enterprise that all the troops should get up the moun- 
tain before morning. Followed by his staff, he reached 
the summit of the watershed, where a Cossack post had 
built two fires, which, however, were kept low so as not to 
attract the notice of the enemy. An icy wind was blowing 
across the peak and the snow was freezing hard as the 
indomitable general laid down for brief sleep among his 
faithful men. It was truly, as says Mr. MacGahan, from 
whom we borrow these details, an " awful resjDonsibility " 
which Gourko had assumed in undertaking, in the depth 
of winter, to conduct across the dreaded Balkans, the 



THE PLAIN OF SOPHIA. 



657 



flower of the Russian Army, the choice corps of the guard. 
He was equal to the high commission. Never for a mo- 
ment did he lose his presence of mind or show the slight- 
est signal of discouragement. "Always giving a personal 
example of energy and endurance, he has the rare quali- 
ties which make him a thorough soldier, and inspire the 
confidence of the men he leads. With all the weight of 
responsibility upon his shoulders, he labored physically 
more than his officers, and his enthusiasm and energy, 
brought out clearly in this difficult passage of the moun- 
tains, are simply sublime." 

All day the general and staff remained on the summit, 
enjoying a sight of the " promised land," which presented 
a scene of wonderful picturesqueness. " Southward lay 
the great plain of Sophia, its pure white face only broken 
by little dark lines where the villages were, and beyond, 
half-veiled in dense clouds, were the mountains farther 
south, and the great peak, Vitos, that towers over Sophia. 
Through the trees eastward was clearly visible the great 
bare peak near the Bilia-Konak Pass, and the lines of the 
Turkish works were drawn on the snow as plainly as 
pencil marks on white paper." 

The delay of a whole day had become inevitable. With 
a vigilant enemy, it might have been of serious conse- 
quences, but as the result proved, it was of decided advan- 
tage to Gourko, as the other two columns were delayed 
still longer, and their junction in the plain below neces- 
sarily postponed. Nothing had been heard from Donde- 
ville, who was to turn the Turkish positions on the summits 
east of the Baba-Konak Pass, but the second column, 
under General Wilhelminoff, consisting mainly of cavalry 
of the guard, had started up the mountains near Etropol, 
and worked with a will. The road down to Kuriak was 
in sight of Turkish positions, was closed by patrols and no 
42 



658 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



movement was permitted in that direction. General Rauch 
was all day incessantly clambering on foot down the northern 
slope, and up again to the bivouac on the summit, hasten- 
ing the artillery or consulting with Gourko and Naglovsky, 
and the former repeatedly accompanied Bauch in his 
movements. 

The descent on the Sophia side was commenced at twi- 
light on December 26th. Everybody was on foot, for the 
path was so steep and slippery that no horse could carry a 
rider down. A snow-storm soon set in. Where the de- 
scent was easy officers and men slid down like schoolboys, 
steadying themselves by grasping the frosted bushes. After 
three miles of such work, they reached* the head of the 
valley leading right down to the plain, and the passage of 
the Balkans was accomplished. There they paused a 
moment, shook hands in the darkness, exchanging con- 
gratulations in the darkness, and then pushed forward to 
Kuriak, a village nestling in a gorge on the slope, and already 
occupied for some days by the outposts. Where those 
who were fortunate enough to be assigned to houses, they 
enjoyed a repose undisturbed by thoughts of Turks only a 
mile away, and all the sweeter for the thirty hours' strug- 
gle with the elements in the Balkans. How the cannon 
got down was a mystery to our correspondents ; but there 
they were at daybreak, and the infantry of the line strug- 
gled in during the forenoon. 

During the morning of the 27 th, the column of General 
Dondeville descended the slopes near Mirkova, and late in 
the evening that of General Wilhelminoff debouched into 
the valley of Kuriak, the descent by the other route to 
Zilava having proved impracticable. Both columns had 
endured almost incredible hardships. The flanking move- 
ment was now a complete success — the Turks at the forti- 
fied camp of Kainarli were cut off from Sophia. Me- 



RETREAT OF CHAKIR PASHA. 



659 



hemet Ali had been recalled a fortnight before ; the army 
was commanded by Chakir Pasha, and the Englishman, 
Baker Pasha, was his chief reliance. The Turks, on this 
side, had suffered scarcely less from the severe cold than 
the Russians. In the Yeldis redoubt, ou a peak 6,200 feet 
above the sea, twenty-eight sentries were frozen to death in 
one night, notwithstanding they were changed every half 
hour. General Gourko's artillerymen had, on Christmas 
day, erected a battery of eight guns within one thousand 
yards of the Yeldis redoubt, and cannonaded it point- 
blank with remarkable accuracy. 

On the 27th, the day when Gourko descended to Kuriak, 
Chakir Pasha resolved to retreat on Tatar-Bazardjik, to 
the south-east, down the Topolnika Valley, and the diffi- 
culty was to prevent the Russians from reaching this route 
before the army could be put in motion in an orderly man- 
ner, an operation which would require more than one day. 
General Baker was ordered to occupy and hold, against all 
odds pending this retreat of the main army, the strong, 
natural position of Tashkesen, a village, six miles west of 
Kamarli, where, during the night of the 27th, he in- 
trenched himself on the hills west of the Sophia road. 
Meanwhile the Kuban Cossacks had secured the plain, in- 
tercepting a provision train of more than two hundred 
wagons, and the Russian infantry took up positions near 
the village of - Potok and Stolnik. For four days Gourko 
remained quietly at Kuriak, awaiting the arrival of the 
infantry and artillery constituting his rear guard, and 
meanwhile Baker had had time to throw up three redoubts 
at Tashkesen. An attack was planned in combination 
• with General Dondeville, who was to complete the chain 
about the Turkish positions at Kamarli, by descending 
from the Etropol road in their rear. But another severe 
snow-storm delayed Dondeville on the heights, and the 
battle had to be fought without his co-operation. 



660 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



At dawn, on the last day of the year 1877, a Russian 
force of forty battalions of infantry and three regiments 
of cavalry attacked Tashkesen. It was divided into four 
columns. General Kriloff operated from the north-east, 
General SchuvalofF from the south-west in the Turkish 
rear, a strong column was to cross the mountains between 
the village of Danskoi and Kamarli, and the main column, 
under General Rauch, was to assault the redoubt in front 
from the Sophia road, while turning the Turkish flank at 
Danskoi with five battalions. From daybreak two Rus- 
sian batteries got in position within easy range and began 
to fire, while the Russian sharpshooters toiled up the 
northern slopes of the hill occupied by the redoubts, and 
from behind the rocks and bushes skirmished with the 
Turkish riflemen in the trenches. A lively artillery duel 
occupied all the morning. 

General Baker had, early in the morning, sent two bat- 
talions to occupy a new position on two low hills to his left, 
i. e., to the west. It was there that the Russian infantry 
attack began about noon. The column met with a most 
stubborn resistance, was again and again driven back, and 
only by the help of repeated reinforcements, were the two 
battalions at last forced to retire nearer the redoubts. Gen- 
eral Mirkevich received a serious wound. Baker sent 
Colonel Allix with three squadrons of cavalry right down 
into the plain between the Russian right and left, where it 
made a most gallant demonstration in the face of a storm 
of shell and shrapnel and accomplished its object of occu- 
pying the attention of Rauch, while the two battalions 
before mentioned were taking up their new positions. Upon 
these, at two P. M., Generals Rauch and Kriloff made a 
combined attack, moving up the hill and cutting off Baker's 
batteries from the village on the lower slope. The village 
was then occupied, this success being aided by a fog which 



BATTLE OF TASHKESEN. 



661 



partly concealed the Russian movements from the observers 
on the heights above. Then the Russians assaulted the 
new positions held by the two devoted battalions, now rein- 
forced by two more, the favorite battalions of Baker Pasha- 
Three times they gained possession of the height and three 
times they were driven back. All day Baker had stood 
there on the height, watch in hand, eager for the night to 
come, knowing that upon his success in holding the redoubt 
till dark depended the safety of the Kamarli army in its 
retreat. His object was gained. Against the fearful odds 
of six to one he held his own until eight in the evening, 
when he retired in good order under cover of the dark- 
ness. Meanwhile, Chakir Pasha, with the Kamarli army 
was well on his way to the Iktiman defile, carrying off his 
entire artillery except eight damaged guns. Baker Pasha 
had lost one-third of his men in killed. He marched all 
night and arrived at Petrichevo at ten in the morning of 
New Year's day. Two other Englishmen, the celebrated 
trooper Captain Fred. Burnaby, noted for his " Bide to 
Khiva/' and Dr. Gill, had distinguished themselves in this 
brilliant action. 

On January 1st, 1878, General Dondeville's column de- 
scended the slopes near Araba-Konak and effected a junc- 
tion with Gourko. Over 800 men had been placed hors 
de combat during the terrible five days' exposure on the 
mountains, and 79 men were frozen to death. The passage 
of the Balkans has thus cost altogether above 1,200 men. 
The retreating Turks were hard pressed on New Year's 
day by the Cossack cavalry, both on the Iktiman and the 
Slatitza roads, and many stragglers were picked up. The 
deserted Turkish camp at Kamarli was occupied on that 
day, and abundant rations of rice, bread and salt were 
eagerly appropriated. At Strigli, a village near by, Dr. 
Leslie, the chief physician of the British P*ed Cross Society, 



662 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



remained with six other English doctors, attending to the 
Turkish wounded. They were for the moment courteously- 
treated by the Russians, but ultimately, together with Mr. 
Bell, correspondent of the Illustrated London News, were 
brutally forced to march on foot across the Balkans and 
back again to Adrianople, an outrage due to the misconduct 
of subordinate officers. 

On the same day, General Wilhelininoff, who had taken 
up an advanced position at Gorni-BagarofF, on the eastern 
branch of the Isker, towards Sophia, was attacked by eight 
battalions of Turks, who came from that city. The fight 
lasted several hours, the Turks making a gallant attempt 
to carry the position by a flanking column, which was, how- 
ever, dispersed with the loss of many prisoners and a regi- 
mental flag. 

Suleiman Pasha, newly appointed to the command-in- 
chief of all the Turkish forces, arrived at Sophia, December 
31st, but left for Philippopolis on the following day, recog- 
nizing the impossibility of a successful defense. He left 
behind him 1,600 men severely wounded or dying. Gen- 
eral Gourko now advanced, in force, upon Sophia, and 
after an unimportant skirmish, at the bridge over the Isker, 
entered that city on the 4th, with a loss of only 24 men. 
The Turks evacuated Sophia on the preceding night, retir- 
ing westward, towards Kostendil. 

The main line of retreat of the Kamarli army was east- 
ward along the base of the Balkans to Slatitza, and thence 
southward down the Topolnitza Valley to Tatar-Bazardjik. 
Slatitza was occupied on January 3d, by Generals Donde- 
ville and Brock, and in the following day they pushed 
their cavalry towards Karlovo and Samakoff. During the 
night of January 6th, General Karassoff, in command of the 
3d Infantry Division, at Troyan, north of the Balkans, 
succeeded in dislodging the Turks from the redoubt at the 



CAPTURE OF THE SHIPKA AKMY. 



663 



summit of the Troyan Pass leading south to Teke and 
Klissura. Three days later General Radetsky achieved 
one of the greatest successes of the war by the capture of 
the whole Turkish Army in front of the Shipka Pass, 
numbering 41 battalions of infantry, 10 batteries and 1 
regiment of cavalry, numbering in all 25,000 men, under 
command of Russim Pasha. The Russian loss in the two 
days' engagement was 1,500 men. Prince Mirsky "and 
General Skobeleff participated in this brilliant achievement, 
crossing the Balkans by different passes east and west of 
Shipka. Prince Mirsky occupied Kezanlik on the 10th. 
General Gourko advancing eastward from Sophia, captured 
the Iktiman defile, January 11th, and pressed forward in two 
columns towards Tatar-Bazar djik and Philippopolis. Ba- 
ker Pasha had some severe skirmishing at a village called 
Mechka. He maintained himself several days at Oltakoi, 
but received orders to retreat on Tatar-Bazardjik, where he 
arrived about the 12th. For his gallantry at Task-Kesen 
he was made a major-general. Both Suleiman and Me- 
hemet Ali Pashas were then at Tatar-Bazardjik; neither 
of them seemed to have any clear idea of what was to be 
done, though the intention of the former, whose command 
was now limited to the corps from Kamarli, was to march 
to Adrianople, forcing the passage, if necessary. A fright- 
ful exodus of the Turkish inhabitants of this, the richest 
and most populous region of Bulgaria now commenced, 
more than 100,000 men, women and children cumbered the 
roads to Hermanli and Philippopolis. Hundreds of the 
refugees were massacred and plundered by the enraged 
Bulgarians, and thousands perished of cold and hunger on 
the highway, which, says Mr MacGahan, should for all 
future time be known as "the Road of the Dead." 

Suleiman Pasha abandoned and set fire to Tatar-Ba- 
zardjik on the 12th, the advance guard of Gourko's army 



664 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



arrived in time to prevent a general conflagration. Gourko 
continued to press upon Suleiman's retreat, effected a junc- 
tion with Skobeleff and Karassoff, and fought, not far from 
Philippopolis, a great battle, lasting three days, from the 
-15th to the 18th. Suleiman had 40,000 men, the chief 
remnant of the Turkish forces in Europe. Of these, he 
lost 10,000 in killed and wounded and 3,000 prisoners, 
besides 49 guns. He recognized the impossibility of con- 
tinuing the direct retreat to Adrianople, and struck from 
Adrianople directly south across the Despoto Dagh, the 
ancient Bhodope Mountains. After great hardships, he 
reached Drama on the 20th, and continuing to the port of 
Kavala, awaited transport ships to embark his troops for 
the vicinity of Constantinople. Gourko entered Philip- 
popolis on the 18th. Mehemet Ali and Ahmed Pashas 
evacuated Adrianople on the 19th, pursuant to orders from 
Constantinople, after blowing up the powder magazine, 
burning the stores of provisions and setting fire to the old 
Seraglio, the earliest residence of the Osmanli Sultans in 
Europe. Skobeleff and Strukoff entered the city on the 
20th to the great joy of the Greek and Bulgarian inhabit- 
ants, the Mussulmen having mostly fled to Constantinople. 
The foreign consuls remained at their posts, and General 
Strukoff organized a provisional government, consisting of 
members of several nationalities. Negotiations for an 
armistice had been progressing for two or three weeks, and 
resulted, on January 31st, in the signature of preliminaries 
of peace at Adrianople. This step put an end to the 
active operations of the war. The varied course of the 
negotiations, the advance of the Russians to the suburbs of 
Stamboul, the diplomatic fencing with England and Aus- 
tria, the passage of the British fleet through the Darda- 
nelles, the signature of the treaty of San Stefano, with the 
important changes it introduced into the map of Turkey, 



THE MONTENEGRIN WAR. 



665 



the fruitless efforts for a Conference or Congress at Berlin 
and the acceptance, by Russia, of the gage of battle thrown 
down by England, will form the subject of our concluding 
chapter. It now only remains to pass, in brief review, the 
military operations of Montenegro and Servia during the 
years 1877 and 1878, which we have left unnoticed for 
the sake of clearness. 

We have seen, in Chapter IX., that the Servian and 
Montenegrin campaigns of 1876 came to a sudden termi- 
nation October 31st, by the armistice imposed through Rus- 
sian intervention, also that Servia consented, thereafter, to a 
humiliating peace, while Montenegro rested upon her arms 
throughout the winter, the armistice being renewed from 
time to time. 

In April, 1877, Montenegrin delegates were in Constan- 
tinople, repeating peremptorily, the demand before sub- 
mitted to the Porte. They had been put aside from time 
to time by Safvet Pasha with the promise that their de- 
mands would receive consideration. But after exhibiting 
more patience than is characteristic of their race, they at 
length insisted upon an immediate reply definitely grant- 
ing or refusing their demands, which was the cession of 
Niksics, Koloschin and the Kutchi. The armistice between 
Montenegro and Turkey expired in the night of April 
13th, and on the 14th the delegates waited upon Safvet 
Pasha for the last time. On the 16th, without a decisive 
answer, they left Constantinople. Upon their arrival at 
Cettigne, Prince Nicholas at once took the field and the 
war was renewed. 

Suleiman Pasha, having succeeded in surprising the 
Montenegrin forces that were guarding the Duga Pass, 
forced his way through to the relief of Niksics. In ac- 
cordance with a plan that involved no little peril, but had 
worked well in former wars, Suleiman was permitted with- 



666 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



out serious opposition to enter Montenegro from Niksics, 
Mehemet Ali from Novi-Bazar and Ali Pasha from Pod- 
goritza ; but the Montenegrins, though thus permitting the 
three columns to enter their territory, successfully pre- 
vented any two from effecting a junction, and placed forces 
upon the rear of each, thus intercepting their retreat and 
cutting off their supplies. The Turkish commanders, as 
usual, sent glowing accounts of their " successes," and yet 
they had not penetrated far when they found it rather 
uncomfortable, and concluded to return as they had come ; 
now began the terrible punishment for their temerity — 
their divisions were well-nigh annihilated in the retreat, the 
one division of Suleiman Pasha losing 7,000 men at 
Ostrog, early in June, in a single encounter lasting nine 
days, while Mehemet Ali Pasha and Ali Pasha were cer- 
tainly not less unfortunate. At length the fragments of 
the three columns escaped across the border, and the 
Montenegrins at once set about the task of reducing Nik- 
sics and the series of works in the Duga Pass, at the same 
time keeping an effectual guard on the Moratcha, and car- 
rying on a harassing system of incursions against the 
various large and small bodies of Turks scattered through 
Albania and the Herzegovina. Early in July, the Turks 
found it convenient to withdraw all their regular troops 
from these provinces, excepting the garrisons of Niksics 
and the adjacent fortifications and those of Spush and Pod- 
goritza. Though Ali Saib or Ali Pasha, who was left in 
command of the operations against Montenegro, proved 
himself a worthy rival of Mehemet Ali Pasha and Sulei- 
man Pasha in concocting flaming reports of "victories," 
Prince Nicholas conducted his operations so discreetly that, 
on the night of the 7th of September, the Montenegrins, 
after a five hours' vigorous bombardment, carried by storm 
the redoubt at Mursevics, and, following up this advantage 



MONTENEGRO VICTORIOUS. 



667 



with vigor, compelled the unconditional surrender of the 
garrison of Niksics the next morning; and, on this memor- 
able 8th of September, the brave mountaineers gained two 
other signal triumphs at Yezero and near Podgoritza. The 
Prince was wise enough not to incumber himself with the 
task of providing for so large a number of prisoners as fell 
into his hands in these three successes ; but retaining the 
guns and equipments and holding the higher officers, dis- 
missed the remainder. These Turkish "victories" were 
energetically followed up, and within a week the Monte- 
negrins were masters of the Duga Pass, of Goransko, of 
Bilek, of Pira and of the formidable fort of Crikvica, and, 
with the entire district of Baniani conquered, they were 
before Stralatz. In December and January, the Monte- 
negrins again waged a vigorous campaign, resulting in the 
capture of Antivari, Duleigno and other towns on the 
southern frontier, and the fall of Scutari was imminent when 
the war was closed by the "preliminaries of Adrianople." 

The reappearance of Servia in the field was simultaneous 
with the Sultan's appeal for peace. Austria, while osten- 
sibly neutral, had been exerting all her influence to compel 
the little principality to hold aloof, her strongest argument 
being the menace of occupying Belgrade ; Russia had sup- 
ported Austria's influence by pretending to prefer Servia's 
neutrality. Prince Milan and many of his military men 
were impatient for an opportunity to avenge their misfor- 
tunes of the previous year, while not a few felt aggrieved 
at Russia's failure to lend an armed hand to the principality 
in the hour of its sore peril. The fall of Plevna, however, 
gave such an impetus to the war spirit, that all influences 
from abroad and opposition from within were overborne, 
and the "Skuptchina was constrained to declare war — this 
was done on the 12th of December, and on the 14th, 
Prince Milan issued his manifesto. The same day, the 



668 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Servian Army crossed the frontier in four columns, or 
Grand Divisions, the first commanded bv General Horva- 
tovich, by way of Saitchar, crossing the Tim ok ; the second, 
under General Leschjanin, moving up the valley of the Mo- 
rava, towards Nissa ; the third, under General Belimarco- 
vich, up the valley of the Western Morava, towards Sienitza 
and Novi-Bazar ; and the fourth, commanded by General 
Ranko Olimpics, across the Drina. 

General Horvatovich occupied Adlia, the Turkish gar- 
rison retiring towards Widdin, followed by the Servians 
for some distance. The Turks also withdrew from before 
General Leschjanin into Nissa, and from before General 
Belimarcovich into Novi-Bazar, while General Olimpics met 
with no opposition whatever. On the 18th, after a short 
but severe fight, Leschjanin captured Mramor, a strong 
outpost redoubt of Nissa ; the same day, pressing around 
to the right, he attacked Prokopolje, and, after a heavy 
cannonade of several hours' continuance, successfully 
stormed the redoubt, and the next morning, repeated the 
same success at Kursumlje — all of these three were strong 
outposts, well-intrenched, of the fortifications of Nissa, and 
their capture was an important gain to the Servians ; then, 
also, on the 19th, Leschjanin took the works at the bridge 
of Sretchnia, across the Southern or Bulgarian Morava, on 
the road via Lekoftcha to Nissa, cutting an important line 
of supply. On the 24th, after eight hours' artillery-fire, 
Leschjanin took Ak-Palanka, with three Krupp guns and 
a large amount of ammunition and provisions, and Pirot, 
with a similar armament and store of supplies, the garrison 
escaping towards Sophia. Thus, by the cutting of the 
road by Lekoftcha and the occupation of Ak-Palanka and 
Pirot, the fortress of Nissa was completely isolated from 
Sophia, its only base pf supplies. Leaving strong detach- 
ments to hold Ak-Palanka and the Lekoftcha road, and 



FALL OF NISSA. 



669 



sending another towards Pristina, General Leschjanin im- 
mediately invested Nissa and commenced a vigorous bom- 
bardment. On the 6th of January, Hafiz Pasha, the com- 
mandant of Novi-Bazar, at the head of a strong detach- 
ment, attacked Kursumlje, and after a determined resistance 
of two days, the Servians were driven out. At length, 
^however, on the 11th, Nissa itself was taken, and on the 
next day, the Servians retook Kursumlje. A few days 
later, Vranja fell into their hands. At Nissa, the Servians 
took 150 guns, many of them Krupp guns, and 20,000 
breech-loading rifles. A few days later, Pristina, the 
capital of Old Servia, was carried, and before the termi- 
nation of the war nearly all of Old Servia had been 
conquered by Servian arms, while General Horvatovich, 
in conjunction with a Roumanian corps, had completely 
invested Widdin ; the concentrated fire of the Roumanian 
guns of Kalafat and of the Servian and Roumanian guns 
environing the fortress upon land, had reduced it to such 
a state that it must have fallen within a day or two had 
not the preliminary steps towards peace interposed — indeed, 
the Turkish commander had submitted two proposals for 
capitulation which had been declined by General Horva- 
tovich. 



CHAPTER XXII.. 



On Tuesday, January 8th, the Sultan, disheartened by 
the loss of Sophia and the rapid progress of the Russians 
towards Adrianople, consulted his Council of Ministers 
upon the expediency of following the advice of the friendly 
Powers and making a direct application to the Grand Duke 
Nicholas for an armistice. The Council approved the 
projDOsition, as did also the Turkish Parliament in secret 
session. The intelligence was communicated by telegraph 
to the Grand Duke then at Loftcha, and Mehemet Ali, 
Server and Reouf Pashas were appointed commissioners. 
The latter, being Minister of War, set out at once for 
Adrianople, commissioned to replace Suleiman Pasha in 
the command of all the Turkish forces in Bulgaria, with 
head-quarters at Eski-Zagra. The Grand Duke replied at 
once that he would consent to an armistice only on con- 
dition that preliminaries of peace should be simultaneously 
negotiated. He also stated that he was about to proceed to Ke- 
zanlik and would there receive the Turkish agents. Server 
and Namyk Pashas, respectively Minister of Foreign Affairs 
and Marshal of the Palace, were accordingly appointed 
plenipotentiaries to treat of the preliminaries of peace, and 
left Constantinople January 15th. A Cabinet crisis had 
just occurred which had resulted in the shelving of Mah- 
moud Damad Pasha, the Sultan's incompetent brother-in- 
law, and the advent to power of a ministry entirely com- 
mitted to peace. 

The Grand Duke Nicholas had for some weeks had his 

670 



SEEKING AN ARMISTICE. 



671 



head-quarters at Bogot, south of Plevna. They were 
changed to Loftcha January 8th, where, on the following 
day, he received a telegraphic message from the Sultan in- 
quiring the conditions of an armistice. His reply was, that 
" negotiations could only be conducted with himself direct, 
and that there could be no question of an armistice at that 
moment without a basis for peace. " The capture of the 
Turkish Army before the Shipka Pass opened for the 
Grand Duke the road to Adrianople. He sent word to 
Constantinople that he would receive the Turkish commis- 
sioners at Kezanlik, and set out for that place, January 
10th, crossed the Balkans by the Shipka Pass on the 14th, 
reaching his destination on the 15th. The Turkish com- 
missioners arrived at Kezanlik, January 20th, and the 
negotiations commenced on the following day. The dis- 
cussions, it is stated, were of a very animated character. 
The Turkish commissioners were immediately notified that 
" the conditions would have a wider bearing than was at 
first supposed," and telegraphed to Constantinople for more 
extended powers. They were granted on the 23d. The 
Russian "preliminary conditions" were communicated to the 
Porte on the 24th, and were not unnaturally considered as 
severe. They embraced the independence of Roumania, 
Servia and Montenegro, with concessions of territory or 
pecuniary indemnities to each, the cession to Russia of 
Batum, Ardahan, Kars and Bayazid, with their adjacent dis- 
tricts, a large war indemnity to Russia, and the " autonomy" 
of Bulgaria, with a vast extension of its southern bound- 
aries, including (it was then said) Adrianople and Salonica ? 
and its occupation by Russian troops until the indemnity 
should be paid, or at least, until complete self-government 
should have been established. " Reforms " were, of course, 
to be introduced in the European provinces remaining to 
Turkey and the great questions concerning the Dardanelles 



672 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



were to be reserved for ulterior consideration by the Great 
Powers. 

Under ordinary circumstances, the Porte might have 
hesitated long before consenting to such terms, but time 
was an important ally of the Russians. Every day brought 
them nearer to Constantinople, and added to the probability 
of their exacting conditions still more severe. Server and 
Namyk were accordingly authorized, on the 25th, to sign 
these humiliating terms. A mysterious interruption of 
official telegraphic communication with Kezanlik now 
ensued, and the Porte was ostensibly in the dark for several 
days as to what was occurring there. The cause lay in the 
fact that the Grand Duke Nicholas suddenly resolved to 
transfer the scene of the negotiations to Adrian ople, and 
arrived there on the 26th. He was received by deputations 
from the Christian clergy, and the Bulgarian, Greek, Ar- 
menian and Jewish inhabitants, who went in procession, 
bearing flags and chanting hymns, to welcome the repre- 
sentative of the " Great White Tsar" to the ancient Turk- 
ish capital. The Osmanli plenipotentiaries followed in the 
wake of the Grand Duke, and the negotiations were re- 
sumed at Adrianople. The real negotiator on the Russian 
side being that wily diplomatist, General Ignatieff, formerly 
ambassador at Stamboul. There can be no doubt that the 
unopposed entry of the Russians into Adrianople, as well 
as their advance to the vicinity of Constantinople, was the 
result of a previous understanding with the Turkish Gov- 
ernment. The preliminaries of peace and the armistice, 
however, were postponed by the Russians as long as possi- 
ble, in order to assure the occupancy of the greater amount 
of territory as a status quo basis in case the peace negotia- 
tions should ultimately fail. 

The long-expected document was signed at Adrianople, 
January 3ist, 1878, but was not officially made known to 



PRELIMINARIES OF PEACE. 



673 



the anxious Cabinets of Europe for several days. The 
terms were substantially those above referred to. The 
armistice, signed the same day, stipulated for the advance 
of the Russian Armies to points on the Archipelago and 
the Sea of Marmora, as well as to the lines of defense of 
Constantinople, and the surrender of the great Danubian 
fortresses, which were to be demolished. Servia and Mon- 
tenegro, as well as Roumania, were included in the armi- 
stice and immediately ceased hostilities. When the news 
reached St. Petersburg, thanksgivings were offered with 
great pomp in the various churches, salvos of artillery 
were fired, the city was gayly decked with flags and illumi- 
nated by night. Similar tokens of joy were exhibited at 
Belgrade and at Bucharest, though in both capitals the 
terms were less favorable than had been hoped. The Ser- 
vians had taken Vranja by storm, February 1st, before the 
armistice was known, being the last act of open hostilities 
during the war. The armistice comprehended Servia and 
Roumania, and was to be communicated to Montenegro by 
Russia. It contained ten articles, which are thus summar- 
ized by Mr. Layard : 

1. A notice of three days must be given before a re- 
sumption of hostilities takes place. 

2. Restoration of the guns and territory taken after the 
signature. 

3. Gives the details of line of demarcation and neutral 
zone for Turkey, Russia and Servia, placing in Russian 
hands almost all Bulgaria, Roumelia and Thrace up to the 
lines of Constantinople and Gallipoli. Fortifications are 
not to be retained on the neutral territory, and no new ones 
are to be raised there. A joint commission will determine 
the line of demarcation for Servia and Montenegro. The 
Russians to occupy Burgas and Midia on the Black Sea, 
in order to obtain supplies, but no war material. 

43 



674 THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 

4. Armies beyond the line of demarcation to be with- 
drawn within three days of signature of armistice. 

5. The Turks may remove arms, etc., to places and by 
routes defined, on evacuating the fortifications mentioned in 
Article 3. If they cannot be removed, an inventory of 
them is to be taken. The evacuation is to be complete 
within seven days after the receipt of orders by the com- 
manders. 

6. Sulina is to be evacuated within three days by the 
Turkish troops and ships of war, unless prevented by ice. 
The Russians will remove the obstacles in the Danube, and 
will superintend the navigation of the river. 

7. The railways to continue to work under certain con- 
ditions. 

8. Turkish authorities to remain in certain places. 

9. Black Sea blockade to be raised. 

10. Wounded Turkish soldiers to remain under the care 
of Russia. 

The terms of peace had been confidentially communi- 
cated to the Cabinets of Vienna and Berlin previous to 
their signature, and while there were numerous objections 
entertained to some of the stipulations, it was believed that 
all difficulties could be overcome by a Conference of the 
Powers who had signed the Treaty of Paris. Austro- 
Hungary took the lead in this movement, and on February 
3d, issued invitations to a Conference at Vienna. The 
proposal was soon accepted by all the Powers, but objections 
were made to the locality, Germany preferring that it 
should be held not at a great capital but at some small city. 
Baden-Baden and Lausanne were suggested. While the 
discussion of the place of the Conference was progressing, 
a grave crisis occurred in consequence of the Bussian ad- 
vance to the vicinity of Constantinople. England now 
stepped to the front as the chief representative of European 




KING WILLIAM, EMPEROR OF GERMANY. 



REVIEW OF BRITISH SENTIMENT. 



675 



dissatisfaction with the proposed terms of peace. For a 
few days, late in January and again early in February, war 
between England and Russia was most imminent. The 
peril was conjured for the moment, only to break out in a 
still more threatening form some weeks later. To under- 
stand the new situation of the Eastern Question, a retro- 
spective glance must be cast upon England's attitude 
throughout the war, and especially during the peace 
negotiations. 

As is well-known, the sympathies of the English public 
have been, throughout the Russo-Turkish war, divided 
between the belligerents. Party lines have not been 
strictly drawn upon this great question, but, in general 
terms, the Tory or Consevative Government sided with 
Turkey, while the Liberal and Radical opposition ap- 
plauded Russian successes to the echo. Lord Beaconsfield 
is the prominent representative of the former view, Mr. 
Gladstone of the latter. The Cabinet has not been a unit 
upon the subject, as will presently be seen by the with- 
drawal of Lords Carnarvon and Derby at critical moments. 
The great newspapers have been pretty evenly divided, the 
Daily News being openly and at all times in favor of Rus- 
sia, and the Times inclining during the actual progress of 
hostilities to the same view, while the Standard, the Tele- 
graph and the Pall Mall Gazette have led the "Turkophile" 
ranks. The greatest names in literature and science, in- 
cluding Carlyle, Freeman, Froude and Stanley, have been 
warmly in favor of Russia. 

The vacillating policy of the Government, as represented 
by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, was mainly responsible 
for the war, by the encouragement given to the Ottoman 
Porte to resist the terms of the famous Conference proposal. 
Russia had shown great solicitude to conciliate the British 
Government, and had long restrained its action with that 



676 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



view. When the sword had been unsheathed, Lord Derby 
had hastened to give utterance to England's disapproval of 
the war (May 1st), and to enumerate the " British inter- 
ests" which must be respected (May 6th), taking his stand 
upon the "integrity and sovereignty of the Ottoman 
Porte" as guaranteed by the Treaty of Paris. Prince 
GortschakofF had replied (May 30th), that " the Russian 
Government would respect the British interests mentioned 
by Lord Derby, as long as England remained neutral." 
All through the war England had carried on a vigorous 
diplomatic compaign at Constantinople and St. Petersburg. 
The ambassador at the former court, Mr. Austen Henry 
Layard, celebrated for his discoveries at Nineveh, had dis- 
tinguished himself by his open encouragement of the 
Turks, in which he seems to have proceeded even farther 
than he was authorized by his Government. In June, 
1877, he had been instructed to sound the Turkish Gov- 
ernment as to the possibilities of acceptance of the Russian 
demands, and had read his chief at the Foreign Office a 
lecture upon British interests in the East. At that early 
date, Prince Gortschakoff had confidentially communicated 
to Lord Derby the terms upon which Russia would be 
willing to make peace. In them it was frankly stated that 
the " autonomy " of Bulgaria would be stipulated in any 
case, but that the limits to be given that principality would 
depend upon whether Russia should or not be compelled 
to carry her arms south of the Balkans. The British Gov- 
ernment could not, therefore, allege a " surprise " upon the 
main geographical result of the war. 

When, early in December, 1877, the Porte had applied to 
"the Powers" for their interposition, England had fol- 
lowed the example of the other great states in recommend- 
ing direct negotiations with the conqueror, but a little later 
in the same month, Queen Victoria had, at the request of 



BRITISH PREPARATIONS FOR WAR. 



G77 



the Sultan, addressed an autograph letter to the Czar, re- 
questing him to grant honorable terms to Turkey. This 
semblance of friendly relations with the Russian Govern- 
ment was, however, belied when Lord Beaconsfield sum- 
moned the British Parliament to assemble January 17th, 
1878, avowedly to sanction a vote of credit, to enable the 
Government to act with promptitude in an expected crisis. 
Even before the meeting of Parliament, Lord Beaconsfield 
had directed great activity in all British arsenals and dock- 
yards, and the movements of the British squadron in the 
Mediterranean occupied much of the public attention. In 
anticipation of the result of the war, many public men in 
England were urging the Government to seize upon Egypt 
as a protection to her communications with India and as a 
compensation for the strengthening of Russia on the Bos- 
phorus. This step was one to which many "Liberals" 
manifested no reluctance, and it was even believed by them 
that it might be done with the concurrence of Bussia. 
The occupation of Gallipoli, the key of the European pe- 
ninsula on the Dardanelles, was persistently rumored, — also, 
that England intended to secure one or more islands in the 
Levant, Crete, Cyprus or Mitylene. It was urged that Con- 
stantinople should be occupied, that the British fleet 
should enter the Black Sea, and even that Batum 
should be seized. During the whole of January, St. 
Petersburg was bombarded with British diplomatic 
notes, but the Czar was not to be disturbed from his se- 
renity. Even had he been weak enough to yield under 
such pressure, the Bussian people would not have acqui- 
esced in the nullification of the fruits of their dearly- 
bought victories. 

It was on the occasion of the fall of Plevna, and the 
consequent appeal of the Sultan to the Powers for media- 
tion that the diplomatic relations between England and 



678 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Russia first assumed a menacing aspect. Notwithstanding 
the assurance given by Prince Gortschakoff, May 30th, 
1877, that Constantinople would not be occupied, unless it 
should become essential to the success of the campaign, and 
that its acquisition was entirely foreign to the desires and 
intentions of the Czar, Lord Derby, on December 13th, 
communicated to the Russian Minister in London, Count 
Schuvaloff, a memorandum, which, after adverting to the 
above promise, continued as follows : 

"While appreciating the courtesy and friendly character 
of this answer, Her Majesty's Government feel that it does 
not sufficiently meet the dangers against which they desire 
to guard. They are strongly of opinion — an opinion which 
the course of events tends still more to confirm — that the 
occupation of Constantinople by the Russian forces, even 
though it should be of a temporary character and for mili- 
tary purposes only, would be an event which it would, on 
all accounts, be most desirable to avoid. 

" They cannot conceal from themselves that, if such an 
occupation appeared imminent, public feeling in this coun- 
try, founded on a just appreciation of the consequences to 
be ap23rehended, might call for measures of precaution on 
the part of Great Britain, from which they have hitherto 
felt justified in abstaining. 

" It is with the view of avoiding what might endanger, 
seriously, the good relations happily maintained between 
the two countries that Lord Derby has been charged by the 
Cabinet to express to the Russian Government their ear- 
nest hope that, should the Russian Armies advance to the 
south of the Balkans, no attempt will be made to occupy 
Constantinople or the Dardanelles. 

" In the contrary event, Her Majesty's Government must 
hold themselves free to take whatever course may appear 
to them necessary for the protection of British interests ; 



gortschakoff's note. 



679 



but they sincerely trust and confidently believe that any 
such necessity will be averted by mutual understanding 
between the two Governments. 

" In making this communication they think it right to 
add that they will be willing, as they have been from the 
first, to avail themselves of any suitable occasion that may 
present itself for assisting in the work of mediation and in 
the restoration of peace." 

Replying under date of December 16th, Prince Gort- 
schakoff replied : "If the Turks were to acquire the con- 
viction that a menace or an attack directed against Con- 
stantinople would cause England to depart from her 
neutrality, their policy would naturally be to prolong their 
resistance, in spite of its evident uselessness, in such a way 
as to force Russia to pursue her operations as far as the 
capital. It would be different, in all probability, if the 
attitude and language of the Cabinet of London were such 
as thoroughly to convince the Porte that it has no assist- 
ance to hope for from abroad. In such a case the Porte 
would resign itself more promptly to abandon a resistance 
which can only aggravate its position." 

He proceeded to assure Lord Derby that Russia re- 
garded the ultimate destiny of Constantinople as a prob- 
lem to be decided by all the Great Powers in common, and 
that it should not belong to any one of them, and invited 
Lord' Derby to define more exactly the British interests in 
Turkey. 

Lord Derby, under date of J anuary 12th, instructed by 
telegraph the British minister, at St. Petersburg, " to state 
to Prince Gortschakoff that Her Majesty's Government is 
of opinion that any operations tending to place the passage 
of the, Dardanelles under the control of Russia, would be 
an impediment to the proper consideration of the terms of 
the final settlement between Russia and Turkey. 



680 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



" You will ask His Highness whether he is willing to 
give an assurance to Her Majesty's Government that no 
Russian force shall be sent to the peninsula of Gallipoli." 

Prince GortschakofT courteously replied that the non- 
occupation of the peninsula of Gallipoli should thenceforth 
be regarded as " an English interest." On the loth, Lord 
Derby formally stated that " in the opinion of Her Ma- 
jesty's Government, any treaty concluded between the 
Government of Russia and the Porte affecting the treaties 
of 1856 and 1871 must be an European treaty, and would 
not be valid without the assent of the Powers who were 
parties to those treaties." 

On January 14th, Lord Derby, in allusion to rumors of 
a Russian advance upon Gallipoli, asked for assurances on 
the subject, which were given in the following terms : 

"The Imperial Cabinet has no intention of directing 
military operations upon Gallipoli, unless the Turkish 
regular troops should be concentrated there. 

" They suppose on their part, that in addressing to them 
this question Her Britannic Majesty's Government have no 
intention of occupying that peninsula, a £tep which would 
not be in accordance with their neutrality, and might give 
rise, in Constantinople, to illusions which would not favor 
the conclusion of peace." 

Mr. Layard informed the Porte, January 16th, that 
England would acknowledge no treaty of peace separately 
concluded between Turkey and Russia in opposition to the 
Treaty of Paris and in which she had no participation. 
Similar declarations were made at St. Petersburg, and it is 
understood that Austria did the same, while Germany 
showed no concern, her interests not being menaced. The 
British Parliament met in a hostile mood January 17th. 
The speech from the throne contained this significant pas- 
sage : 



QUEEN VICTOKIA's SPEECH. 



681 



" Hitherto, so far as the war has proceeded, neither of 
the belligerents has infringed the conditions on which my 
neutrality is founded, and I willingly believe that both 
parties are desirous to respect them, so far as it may be in 
their power. So long as these conditions are not infringed 
my attitude will continue the same. But I cannot conceal 
from myself that, should hostilities be unfortunately pro- 
longed, some unexpected occurrence may render it incum- 
bent on me to adopt measures of precaution. Such 
measures could not be effectually taken without adequate 
preparation, and I trust to the liberality of my Parliament 
to supply the means which may be required for that pur- 
pose." 

On the 21st, Lord Derby stated that the British Govern- 
ment had no present intention of occupying Gallipoli. But 
in consequence of the continued Russian advance toward 
Constantinople, the Government, against Lord Derby's 
wish, resolved to send to that capital the fleet stationed in 
Besika Bay, near Tenedos, a few miles from the Darda- 
nelles. This grave step and its ludicrous result, irresistibly 
reminding the reader of the famous couplet about the mili- 
tary achievements of a Gallican monarch, is briefly epito- 
mized in the following telegraphic correspondence : 

"Admirality, January 23d, 1878, 7 P. M., to Admiral 
Hornby, Vourla.— Most secret. Sail at once for the Dar- 
danelles, and proceed with the fleet now with you to Con- 
stantinople. Abstain from taking any part in the contest 
between Russia and Turkey, but the waterway of the 
Straits is to be kept open, and in the event of tumult at 
Constantinople you are to protect life and property of 
British subjects. Use your judgment in detaching such 
vessels as you may think necessary to preserve the water- 
way of the Dardanelles, but do not go above Constanti- 
nople. Report your departure, and communicate with 



682 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Besika Bay for possible further orders, but do not wait if 
none are there. Keep your destination absolutely secret. 
Acknowledge." 

"Admiral Hornby, Vourla, January 24th, 1878, 6.10 
P. M., to Admiralty (received 5.12 A. M., January 25th, 
1878). — Orders received. Sail at 5 P. M. to-day for the 
Dardanelles and Constantinople. Order left for 1 Alexan- 
dra ' and colliers to follow." 

"Admiralty, January 24th, 1878, 7.25 P. M., to Ad- 
miral Hornby, Vourla, Koumkaleh, Chanak. Annul 
former orders, anchor at Besika Bay and await further 
orders. Report arrival there." 

"Admiral Hornby, Dardanelles, January 25th, 5.45 P. 
M., to Admiralty (received January 25th, 11.5 P. M.). 
Received your telegraphic communication to anchor Besika 
Bay when abreast Dardanelles forts. Firman received 
there for passage of Straits. I returned to Besika Bay 
immediately, as ordered." 

During the twenty-four hours occupied by this disgrace- 
ful affair, Lords Derby and Carnarvon resigned from the 
British Cabinet. The former was induced to withdraw his 
resignation on the withdrawal of the fleet from the Darda- 
nelles, but that of Lord Carnarvon was eagerly accepted by 
Lord Beaconsfield. The sudden order to Admiral Hornby 
to withdraw from the Dardanelles, was occasioned by the 
receipt of a telegram from St. Petersburg, January 24th, 
in which the Russian Government explained that the Rus- 
sian corps, which had been seen in the direction of Galli- 
poli, had express orders merely to watch the Turks and to 
abstain from entering the town. 

The "preliminary conditions of peace" were nearly 
identical with those previously mentioned. Their publica- 
tion in England coinciding, in point of time, with a false 
report of the occupation of Constantinople (February 8th), 



PASSAGE OF THE DAKDANELLES. 



683 



determined the British Government to carry out the pro- 
gramme from which it had receded two weeks before, namely, 
the sending of the fleet to Constantinople. To avoid forcing 
Russia to declare war, however, it was carefully stated 
(February 9th), that the measure was undertaken "with 
the object of protecting the lives and property of British 
subjects in the Turkish capital," and, moreover, that the 
permission of the Sultan would be asked. To this an- 
nouncement Prince Gortschakoff replied (February 10th), 
that a similar motive, the protection of Russian subjects, 
might force his Government to occupy Constantinople with 
their troops, but the menace was not carried into effect. 
The efforts of Mr. Layard to obtain from the Sultan a 
firman authorizing the passage of the Dardanelles by a 
British fleet, were unsuccessful, and for a moment it looked 
as if a passage would have to be forced. But the Sultan 
contented himself with a protest. The British squadron 
under Admiral Hornby, passed the Dardanelles at noon, 
February 13th, and anchored on the morning of February 
15th, at Princes Islands, within sight of Constantinople. 

Meanwhile the Russian Government responded to 
British pressure by advancing the lines of occupation 
closer to Constantinople, and the Grand Duke Nicholas 
took up his head-quarters at the picturesque village of San 
Stefano, on the Sea of Marmora, in the immediate vicinity 
of the Turkish capital. Here the negotiations for a formal 
peace were continued, the plenipotentiaries being General 
Ignatieff and Nelidoff, and on the Turkish side Safvet 
Pasha and Sadoolah Bey. The Russian Secretary was 
Prince Tserteleff and the administrator of Bulgaria, 
Prince Tcherkasky, was at hand with his counsels. 
Pending the discussion of the treaty, we must cast a last 
glance at the military situation. 

In accordance with the terms of the armistice, the Turk- 



684 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



ish fortresses of Rustchuk, Silistria, Varna and Widdin 
were, in February, surrendered to the Russians, also the 
cities of Erzerum and Batum in Armenia. In Asia Minor 
little fighting had taken place since the fall of Kars. 
Muktar Pasha had been recalled to Constantinople early 
in January, and placed in command of the defenses of 
that city, while Ismail Hakki Pasha, who had succeeded to 
the command in chief in Armenia, had removed the seat 
of government to Trebizond, and had devoted his energies 
mainly to the maintenance of an army of observation at 
Baiburt. Typhus fever assumed the aspect of a veritable 
plague at Tifiis, Kars and Erzerum. In the former capi- 
tal General Melikoff, the real Commander-in-Chief, during 
the preceding year, died early in March, as did also Gen- 
eral Sholkownikoff and many other distinguished officers. 
The losses at Erzerum from this cause were computed at 
20,000, and among them was the hravest soldier of Asia, 
the hero of Kizil Tepe, Mehemet Pasha. 

The first consequence of the preliminaries of jDeace was 
a crisis in the whole foreign and domestic policy of the 
Porte. The office of Grand Vizier was abolished, and in 
its place was created a responsible " Parliamentary " min- 
istry, at the head of which was Ahmed Vefyk Effendi, the 
most learned and honorable of Turkish statesmen and a 
sincere advocate of permanent peace with Russia, though 
he retained an old-time friendship for Mr. Layard. This 
was not the case with the majority of Turkish politicians. 
On the morrow of the signature of the preliminaries at 
Adrianople, Mr. MacGahan had an interview with the 
Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Server Pasha, who 
charged that gentleman to make known to the British pub- 
lic his changed sentiments. He roundly accused Lord 
Beaconsfield and Mr. Layard of privately encouraging 
Turkey to make war, and then leaving her in the lurch. 



PASSAGE OF THE DAEDAXELLES. 



685 



" I have hitherto/' said he, " been a partisan of England, 
of English policy, of the English alliance. I believed there 
were ties of sympathy, friendship and of interest between the 
two peoples that necessitated an alliance. I believed in 
England to the extent of compromising myself and my 
Government. I see that I have been mistaken ; that I was 
deceived, or (correcting himself) that I deceived myself. 
I now abandon the English alliance. I no longer believe 
in English policy, the English Government or the Eng- 
* lish people. I accept the Russian policy and alliance. I 
am a partisan of them. I believe in the Russian policy. 
I am more Eussian than the Russians themselves." These 
declarations produced a profound sensation not only in 
England but throughout Europe. Mr. Layard at once 
demanded the disavowal of this interview, or the dismissal 
of Server Pasha from the ministry. He was allowed to 
resign, and the interview was never formally denied. 

At the very moment of the signature of the armistice, 
the impatience of the Greeks could be no longer restrained. 
On January 31st, in a secret sitting, the Hellenic Parlia- 
ment empowered the Government to commence hostilities 
against Turkey. On February 1st, an official announce- 
ment was made that " the Hellenic Government, moved by 
the sufferings in the Greek provinces of Turkey, has given 
orders for an army of 12,000 men to cross the frontier to- 
morrow morning and occupy Thessaly, Epirus and Mace- 
donia, for 'the purpose of maintaining public order and 
preventing massacres of Christians." 

On Saturday morning, February 2d, after a Te Deum 
celebrated outside the town of Lamia, a corps of 10,000 
Greek troops, accompanied by several thousand volunteers, 
under the command of General Soutzo, crossed the fron- 
tiers of Thessaly. The Turkish troops on the frontier de- 
livered up the keys of their barracks to General Soutzo 



686 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



and retired to trie strong fortress of Domoko, the ancient 
Thaumaki, some ten miles to the north. An insurrection 
began simultaneously in southern and western Thessaly 
and at several points in Epirus. A body of Thessalian 
insurgents co-operated with General Soutzo in the advance 
upon Domoko, but two days later the news of the armistice 
having reached Athens, the army was ordered to recross 
the frontier. A small force which had entered Epirus did 
the same. But the Thessalian insurgents continued in 
arms. Aided by Greek volunteers, including a new 
"Sacred Band" of students from Thebes, they occupied 
the citadel of the ancient Halos, above the strongly-fortified 
town of Armyros, and the villages of Mount Pelion de- 
clared almost to a man for independence and union with 
Greece. Provisional Governments were formed on Mount 
Pelion, in the Agrafa district and in Epirus. Insurrections 
broke out in the villages of Mount Olympus, and desultory 
fighting was carried on throughout February, March and 
April, with the usual result of profitless " victories " won 
by the Turks in the open villages, and the massacre of 
women, children and old men. But the insurrection could 
not be subdued, not even by the storming of their chief 
stronghold, Makrinitza, on Mount Pelion, which occurred 
at the close of March. 

The Turkish Government prudently declined to declare 
war upon Greece and the " incident " terminated within a 
few days. Not so the Hellenic aspirations for the recovery 
of their provinces still under the Osmanli yoke ; but from 
the moment the terms of peace were known, it was per- 
ceived that nothing was to be hoped from the patronage of 
the Czar, already overburdened with care for Slavonic and 
Bulgarian interests. Greece appealed to " the Powers " for 
representation in the Congress or Conference, her desire 
was supported warmly by England and Austria, and not 



THE TREATY OF SAN STEFANO. 



687 



refased by the other Powers. From that body, therefore, 
should it ever meet, the little Hellenic Kingdom may ex- 
pect a decidedly favorable reception and may probably gain 
the object of her aspirations. It must not be omitted that 
about this time a fresh insurrection in Crete proclaimed the 
union of that island with the mother country. 

The long-protracted negotiations between the belligerents 
at last culminated in a peace which was signed at San 
Stefano, March 3d, 1878, the anniversary of the Czar's ac- 
cession to the throne, and also of the most memorable event 
of his reign; namely, the emancipation of the Russian 
serfs. The following is an accurate synopsis of its contents : 

Article I. Montenegro is declared impendent, and 
obtains Niksics, Gachko, Spuz (Spush), Podgoritza, Zabliak 
and Antivari. The southern boundary will cross the Lake 
of Scutari (Skodra), and follow the course of the Boyana 
to the sea. A European commission will fix the definitive 
limits. 

Art. II. The relations of Montenegro with the Porte shall 
be made the object of a subsequent agreement, the differ- 
ences between them being referred to the arbitration of 
Austro-Hungary and Russia. 

Art. III. Servia is declared independent and obtains 
Nish, Novi-Bazar, the Valley of the Drina and Little 
Zvornik. 

Art. IV. Until the conclusion of the treaty determin- 
ing the future relations between Servia and the Porte, the 
Servians shall be treated in Europe and in Turkey agree- 
ably to the rights and usages of international law. Servia 
shall evacuate the Turkish territory occupied by her. The 
Mohammedan population shall retain possession of their 
movable property, and a Turco-Servian Commission shall 
be appointed to decide, within two years, all questions rela- 
tive to their landed and other real property, and further, 



688 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



to decide within three years, the questions connected with 
the alienation of the property of the State or of the (Mo- 
hammedan) Church. 

4lRT. V. Roumania is declared independent, and will 
treat directly with Turkey, presenting her claims for in- 
crease of territory and a war indemnity. Roumanian 
subjects in Turkey shall have the same rights as those of 
the other Powers. 

Art. VI. Bulgaria will form an autonomous tributary 
Principality, with a Christian government and a national 
militia. The definitive frontier of Bulgaria is to be marked 
out by a Turco-Russian Commission previous to the evacua- 
tion of the territory by the Russians. This frontier is to 
extend from Vranja to Kastoria by the Karadagh, the 
Karadrina and the heights of Grammos to the confluence 
of the Moglenitza and of the Varclar to the west of Salonica, 
as far as the middle of the Lake of Beschik and of the 
Struma River, and will extend along the sea-coast to the 
Gulf of Kavala, and thence by the sea-coast to Burum- 
gord, and north-westward along the Rhodope Mountains and 
the Kara Balkans to the River Adla, thence towards Tchir- 
men, leaving Adrianople to the south, thence by Lule 
Burgas to the Black Sea, along its coast to Mangalia, and, 
passing by Tultscha, reach the Danube at Rahova. 

Art. VII. The Prince of Bulgaria shall be elected 
freely by the population, the election being confirmed by 
the Sultan and accepted by the Powers. No member of 
any of the dynasties of the Great Powers shall be eligible. 
The National Assembly shall be convoked at Tirnova or 
at Philippopolis to draw up a Constitution, before the elec- 
tion of a prince, under the surveillance of a Russian and in 
the presence of a Turkish Commissioner. The installa- 
tion of the new government shall be confided for two years 
to a Russian Commissioner. At the expiration of one 



THE CONDITIONS OF PEACE. 



689 



year, plenipotentiaries of other Powers may, if deemed 
necessary, take part in this task. The Turks, Greeks and 
Wallacks of Bulgaria may participate in the election. 

Art. VIII. The Turkish Army shall evacuate Bulgaria. 
All the fortresses shall be razed. Bulgaria shall be occu- 
pied for two years by 50,000 Russians at the expense of 
that country. 

Art. IX. The tribute of Bulgaria to the Porte shall be 
determined by means of an understanding between Turkey, 
Bussia and the other Powers, on the basis of the average 
revenue of the country. Bulgaria assumes Turkey's obli- 
gations to the Bustchuk and Varna Railway Company. 

Art. X. The Porte shall have the right to construct a 
military road through Western Bulgaria. Postal and tele- 
graphic questions shall be determined by a special com- 
mission. 

Art. XI. Mussulmans, even if they have left Bulgaria, 
shall retain possession of their properties. Unclaimed 
property shall be sold after two years for the benefit of 
Bulgarian widows and orphans. Bulgarians in Turkey 
will be subject to Ottoman laws. 

Art. XII. The fortresses on the Danube shall be razed 
and vessels of war excluded from that river. The powers 
of the International Danubian Commission shall continue. 

Art. XIII. The reforms proposed by the Constantinople 
Conference shall be immediately carried out in Bosnia and 
Herzegovina, under the supervision of Russia and Austria. 

Art. XIV. Arrears of taxes will be remitted to the in- 
habitants of those provinces. Taxes until 1880 shall be 
employed for the benefit of refugees. 

Art. XV. In Crete, the ordinances of 1868 shall be 
applied in the strictest manner. Similar reforms shall be 
introduced into Epirus and Thessaly, by consultation with 
Russia. 

44 



690 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Art. XVI. Armenia shall obtain reforms and be pro- 
tected against Kurds and Circassians. 

Art. XVII. A full amnesty throughout Turkey shall 
be accorded. 

Art. XVIII. The Turco-Persian frontier shall be estab- 
lished in accordance with former treaties. 

Art. XIX. The war indemnity is fixed at 1,410,000,000 
roubles. Taking into consideration the financial embar- 
rassment of Turkey and in harmony with the wishes of 
the Sultan, the greater part of the indemnity is received in 
territory, comprising in Europe the Sandjak of Tultcha (i. 
e., the Dobrudscha), which may be exchanged with Bou- 
rn ania for that part of Bessarabia detached from Russia by 
the Treaty of 1856, and in Asia the towns and districts of 
Ardahan, Batum, Kars and Bayazid, the boundary being 
the Soghanlu Dagh. These territories are estimated at 
1,100,000,000 roubles. The remaining 310,000,000 roubles 
will be settled by an understanding between the Bussian 
and Turkish Governments. 

Art. XX. The Sublime Porte engages to facilitate the 
adjudication of law suits of Bussian subjects pending for 
several years in Turkey. 

Art. XXI. The inhabitants of the territories ceded to 
Bussia shall be free to emigrate with their property to 
Turkey for three years, at the expiration of which, the re- 
maining inhabitants will become Bussian subjects. A 
special Busso-Turkish Commission will determine questions 
relating to the property of religious establishments and to 
the removal by the Turkish Government of war material 
and other State property. 

Art. XXII. Bussian ecclesiastics and pilgrims traveling 
in Turkey shall have all the rights and protection accorded 
to any nationality. The right of official protection of such 
persons is accorded to the Bussian Embassy and Consulates. 



THE CONDITIONS OF PEACE. 



691 



The Russian priests at the holy places and especially at 
Mount Athos shall enjoy all rights and privileges conceded 
to those of other nationalities. 

Art. XXIII. Former treaties and conventions are re- 
vived. 

Art. XXIV. The Bosphorus and Dardanelles shall 
remain open both in peace and in war to the merchant 
vessels of neutral States bound to Russian ports in the 
Black Sea. 

Art. XXV. The Russian Army shall evacuate Turkish 
territory in Europe, except Bulgaria, within three months 
from the conclusion of definitive peace. Troops may be 
embarked at ports on the Black Sea and the Sea of Mar- 
mora. Russian forces in Asia shall evacuate Turkish 
territory within six months, and may embark at Trebi- 
zond. 

Art. XXVI. The Russians shall preserve the adminis- 
tration of occupied districts until their evacuation. 

Art. XXVII. The Sublime Porte undertakes not to 
punish or allow to be punished those Ottoman subjects who 
may have compromised themselves by their relations with 
the Russian armies during the war. 

Art. XXVIII. Prisoners of war shall be mutually re- 
turned, under the auspices of commissioners who will pro- 
ceed to Odessa and Sebastopol, the Ottoman Government 
paying the expenses of the maintenance of Turkish prison- 
ers. Similar arrangements shall be made with Roumania, 
Servia and Montenegro. 

Art. XXIX. The ratification of this Acte shall be ex- 
changed at St. Petersburg, within fifteen days. The fur- 
ther necessary formalities for giving the stipulations of this 
Acte the solemn forms customarily observed in treaties of 
peace, will be determined at St. Petersburg, but the high 



692 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



contracting parties regard themselves as formally bound by 
the present Acte from the moment of its ratification. 
Done at San Stefano, March 3d, 1878. 

Count Igxatieff, 

Safvet, 

Nelidoff, 

Sadoolah. 

The full text of the Treaty of San Stefano was not com- 
municated to the "Powers" until March 21st. It was 
published in full in all the European capitals on the fol- 
lowing day, and created a great sensation. Its main fea- 
tures had previously been known, but there were two of 
its stipulations the secret of which had been well kept. 
These were the extension of Montenegro and of Bulgaria 
beyond what had been previously announced. It had 
been supposed that the western limit of Bulgaria would be 
substantially the River Vardar, but it was now found to 
extend to the great range of mountains north-west of 
Macedonia, comprehending a great part of that province. 
Not England alone but Austria now took alarm, and the 
prospect for some days was decidedly warlike. But Bussia 
was wise enough to take the most effectual means of con- 
ciliating Austro-Hungary, namely, by offering her, without 
a war, all that she could hope to gain by open hostilities. 

On March 24th, General Ignatieff was dispatched, with 
the greatest urgency, to Vienna, where he was, for several 
days, engaged in making explanations of the scope of the 
Treaty of San Stefano, and endeavoring to obviate Austrian 
obj ections. The Austro-Hungarian Government was shrewd 
enough to see that, in case of war between Bussia and 
England, her neutrality must be purchased at any price by 
the former, and she was not anxious to cheapen her future 
compensation by definite statements. 



VISIT OF THE GRAND DUKE TO THE SULTAN. 693 



An exchange of views had lately been proceeding be- 
tween the Austrian and Hungarian Governments upon the 
expediency of laying stress upon the economic interests of 
the dual monarchy in the states of the Balkan Peninsula, 
the navigation of the Danube, the junction of the Austrian 
railways with those in abutting territory, and the consular 
and postal services in such territory under whatsoever gov- 
ernment. It was agreed to energetically demand the con- 
struction of a railway between Sophia, Nish and Semlin, 
and the completion of the Bosnian railway system. 

In accordance with this decision, the Austrian general 
staff determined that "the Treaty of San Stefano would 
compel Austria to extend her military power over Servia, 
Montenegro, Bosnia and Albania." These provinces, it 
may be remarked, had long been the best market for Aus- 
tro-Hungarian manufactures. 

Meanwhile, Russia had finally rejected the demand of 
England that all the articles of the treaty should be sub- 
jected to the decision of the Conference or Congress of 
Berlin, and that mythical body, consequently, disappeared 
to the limbo of good intentions. War now became immi- 
nent and great interest was naturally attached to the atti- 
tude of Turkey in the conflict. The long-deferred visit of 
the Grand Duke Nicholas to the Sultan took place March 
26th. Osman Pasha, just returned from captivity in Rus- 
sia, was at the Sultan's right hand, and, a few days later, 
was appointed Military Commandant of Constantinople. 
Both he and Reouf Pasha, as well as many other distin- 
guished officers threw their w r eight into the scale of Rus- 
sian alliance. Muscovite and Ottoman soldiers fraternized 
in the streets of Constantinople. Ghazi Muktar was ap- 
pointed " chief of the general staff," and thus became the 
virtual Commander-in-Chief of the whole Turkish forces. 
Mehemet Ali in command of the line of the Bosphorus, 



694 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



and Suleiman Pasha was a prisoner at the Dardanelles, 
charged with being at the head of a republican conspiracy. 

On the 30th of March, the British Cabinet determined 
upon the extraordinay step of calling out the reserves, and 
as a consequence Lord Derby resigned the position of 
Foreign Secretary, explaining in the House of Lords, the 
same night, that his withdrawal was because certain 
measures had been adopted which, in his opinion, were 
unwarranted by the situation and would probably lead to 
war. 

On April 1st, the Queen's message for the calling out of 
the reserves was read by the Speaker of the House, as fol- 
lows : 

" The present state of public affairs in the East and the 
necessity of taking steps for the maintenance of peace, and 
for the protection of the interests of the empire having con- 
stituted, in the opinion of Her Majesty, a case of great 
emergency, within the meaning of the acts of Parliament 
in that behalf, Her Majesty deems it proper to provide ad- 
ditional means for the public service. Therefore, in pur- 
suance of those acts, Her Majesty has thought it right to 
communicate to the House of Commons that she is about 
to direct that the reserve force and militia reserve force, or 
such part thereof as Her Majesty may think necessary, be 
forthwith called out for permanent service." 

On the same day, the Marquis of Salisbury assumed the 
post of Foreign Secretary, and addressed to the Great 
Powers an important circular, fully committing Great 
Britain to a resistance of the Treaty of San Stefano and to 
vigorous action in the Levant to enforce her views. It 
summarized all the recent correspondence, and after giving 
Russia's refusal to consent to England's demand relative to 
placing the treaty as a whole before the Congress, continued 
as follows : 



lord Salisbury's circular. 



695 



" Her Majesty's Government deeply regret Russia's de- 
cision. Even if a considerable portion of the stipulations 
of the treaty were likely to be approved, Russia's reserva-* 
tion relative to their discussion would, nevertheless, be open 
to most serious objection. Every material stipulation of 
the treaty involves a departure from the Treaty of 1856, 
and by the declaration signed in London in 1871 it is im- 
possible for .Her Majesty's Government to acquiesce in a 
withdrawal from the cognizance of the Powers of articles 
which are modifications of existing treaties. The combined 
effect of the stipulations upon the interests of the Powers also 
furnishes a conclusive reason against separate discussion of any 
one portion of them. By the articles relative to new Bulgaria 
a strong Slav state will be created under the auspices and 
control of Russia, who will thus secure a preponderating 
political and commercial influence in the Black and iEgean 
Seas. A considerable Greek population, although it views 
the prospect with alarm, will be merged into a Slav com- 
munity alien to it. The provisions by which Russia will 
practically choose a ruler for Bulgaria, while a Russian ad- 
ministrator frames and a Russian Army controls the first 
working of its institutions, sufficiently indicate of what po- 
litical system it will in the future form a part. The stipu- 
lations for the better government of Thessaly and Epirus, 
in themselves highly commendable, are accompanied by 
conditions the general effect of which will be to increase the 
power of Russia to the prejudice of Greece and every other 
country having interests in the Eastern Mediterranean. 
The territorial severance of Constantinople from the Euro- 
pean provinces still left under its government will deprive 
the Porte of any political strength which might have been 
derive^ frorc^ their possession, and expose their inhabitants 
to serious risk of anarchy. The acquisition of Bessarabia 
and Batum makes Russia dominant over all the vicinity 



696 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



of the Black Sea, while the acquisition of the Armenian 
strongholds secures her influence over the population of the 
province and enables her to arrest trade between Europe 
and Persia. The indemnity stipulated for is evidently be- 
yond Turkey's means, even not considering the portion of 
her revenue hypothecated to other creditors. Its mode of 
payment being vaguely stated, it may thus be demanded 
immediately, left to weigh down the Porte's independence 
for many years, commuted for more territory, or be made 
the means of entirely subordinating Turkish to Russian 
policy. 

" The combined effect of the treaty, in addition to the 
results upon the Greek population, and upon the balance 
of maritime power, which have been already pointed out, 
is to depress, almost to the point of entire subjection, the 
political independence of the Government of Constanti- 
nople. The formal jurisdiction of that Government ex- 
tends over geographical positions which must, under all 
circumstances, be of the deepest interest to Great Britain. 
It is in the power of the Ottoman Government to close or 
to open the Straits which form the natural highway of 
nations between the iEgean Sea and the Empire. Its 
dominion is recognized at the head of the Persian Gulf, on 
the shores of the Levant and in the immediate neighbor- 
hood of the Suez Canal. It cannot be otherwise than a 
matter of extreme solicitude to this country that the Gov- 
ernment to which this jurisdiction belongs should be so 
closely pressed by the political outposts of a greatly supe- 
rior power, that its independent action, and even existence, 
is almost impossible. These results arise not so much from 
the language of any single article in the treaty as from the 
operation of the instrument as a whole. A discussion 
limited to articles selected by one Power in the Congress 
would be an illusory remedy for the dangers to English 



LOSSES BY THE WAR. 



697 



interests, and to the permanent peace of Europe, which 
would result from the state of things which the treaty 
proposes to establish. 

"The object of the Constantinople Conference was to 
preserve Turkey by reforming her. This policy was frus- 
trated by the unfortunate resistance of the Ottoman Gov- 
ernment itself, and, under the altered circumstances of the 
present time, the same result cannot be attained to the 
same extent and by the same means. , Large changes may, 
and no doubt will, be requisite in the treaties by which 
Southern Europe has hitherto been ruled, but good gov- 
ernment, assured peace and freedom for the populations to 
whom those blessings have been strange, are still the 
objects which England earnestly desires to secure. Large 
changes will doubtless be necessary in hitherto existing 
treaties. England earnestly desires good government, and 
peace and freedom for the populations to whom those 
blessings have been strange. ,, 

The close of the war enabled the Russians to calculate 
their losses, and the figures officially given placed them at 
89,879 men. It is not probable that any statistician will be 
found who will blindly accept these figures, which may 
safely be considered much less than the truth. Perhaps 
we shall not be far wrong in estimating them at 150,000. 
On the other hand the Turks lost, in prisoners alone, 
120,000 men, while the most moderate estimate for killed and 
wounded, could not be less than 100,000 men. If to these 
be added the mutual loses in the Servian, Montenegrin and 
Bosnian wars, the Bulgarian massacres, and the scores of 
thousands who perished from cold and hunger in the great 
Mussulman exodus, the war, probably, placed hors de com- 
bat not less than half a million persons, a result which has, 
perhaps, never been exceeded within the same length of 
time. 



698 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



A slight compensation for the miseries of the war to the 
Bulgarians and Roumanians may be found in the construction 
of several lines of railway by the Russians. Two such lines 
in Roumania were completed during the war, and lines from 
Simnitza to Biela and from Yamboli to Burgas were vigor- 
ously pushed, after the war. The problem of the future 
government of Bulgaria occupied the Russians from an 
early period in the war, and Russian Commissioners at 
Bucharest and Tirnova were engaged in the compilation of 
historical, legal and statistical data, of which several vol- 
umes were printed. Prince Tcherkasky, an able adminis- 
trator, was, as has been seen, intrusted with the creation of 
a provisional Bulgarian Government at Tirnova, and cer- 
tainly omitted no measure for assimilating Bulgarian insti- 
tutions to the Muscovite model, even creating that peculiarly 
Slavonic institution, the Mir or village community. The 
Prince died at San Stefano, the day after the signature of 
peace; his death is alleged to have been self-caused, on 
learning that the administration of Bulgaria was to be 
taken from his hands. The prominent candidate for the 
Bulgarian vassal throne was then Prince Battenberg, a 
nephew of the Czarina of Russia. 



PAET II. 



ACTORS IN THE COUNCILS AND ON THE FIELD. 



I. Emperors, Kings, and Princes 

ALEXANDER II. (Nicolaivitch), 

Czar, Emperor, and Autocrat of all the Russias, is 
the eldest son of the late Czar, Nicholas I., and the 
Princess Charlotte, daughter of William III., King of 
Prussia. He was born April 17, O. S. (April 29, 
New Style), 1818, during the reign of his uncle, Alex- 
ander I., the predecessor of Nicholas, whom, in many 
respects, he resembles. The Imperial family, of which 
the Czar Nicholas was the head, was remarkable for 
physical beauty. There were four sons and three 
daughters, and all inherited both from father and 
mother, an extraordinary stateliness, grace, and beauty, 
which had no parallels among the crowned heads 
of Europe. Nicholas, in his prime, was said to be the 
handsomest man in Europe, and the Czarina, the most 
beautiful woman — and none of the sons or daughters 
were lacking in this great, though dangerous gift. The 
household was a very happy one ; for, though Nicholas 
was a stern man, and inherited from his Romanoff ances- 
tors a, furious temper, which, when at a white heat, was 
appalling to all around him, yet, in his family, he was 
always gentle and loving. 



700 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



His eldest son, Alexander, had, in his early "boyhood, 
when but seven or eight years of age, been an unwilling 
witness of the terrible scenes of insurrection and violence, 
which followed his father's coronation, and had known, 
young as he was, the relentless severity, with which the 
Czar punished all who had any part or interest in that 
insurrection, in the years that followed. In his thirteenth 
year his father put down the insurrection in Poland, with 
a severity and cruelty, which has compelled the historian 
to denounce his action as " the most atrocious crime in 
all history." Sixty thousand Poles were banished to 
Siberia ; all the male children of the poorer classes, who 
composed nineteen-twentieth s of the inhabitants, were 
seized, in accordance with a ukase issued February 14, 
1832, and sent to Minsk, to be enrolled in battalions, 
and brought up for the military service of the govern- 
ment. Agonized and imploring mothers followed their 
babes for many miles, pleading that they might not be 
torn from them. The use of the Polish language was 
forbidden in the schools, the courts, and the churches. 
He fulfilled his vow to " make a Siberia of Poland, and 
a Poland of Siberia." Even his sons were placed under 
military governors, to harden their hearts to the human 
suffer ing, which the Czar believed necessary, to carry 
out his stern purposes. 

The effect of all this upon Alexander, the heir to the 
throne, was very painful. His nature was gentle and 
thoughtful, and cruelty was abhorrent to all his feelings. 
His younger brother, Constantine, was cast in a different 
mould. He did not share in these tender emotions, and 
in his capacity as Admiral in the Navy, rather rejoiced 
in deeds of blood ; and there grew up, for a time, a cool- 
ness between the brothers, which might have led to 
unfortunate results, but for the father's interference. 



RULERS ALEXANDER II. 



701 



Alexander was, when lie arrived at his majority, so over- 
whelmed with sadness, that nothing seemed to dispel the 
gloom from his spirits. In vain did his father give him 
high positions and great duties to perform, in the hope 
of diverting his mind and rousing his ambition. His 
duties were carefully and faithfully accomplished, but 
his sad and pale face told how much he suffered. At 
length, his father sent him to Germany and the other 
courts of Europe, with orders to remain abroad till his 
health was fully recovered. He went from court to 
court, everywhere welcomed, and everywhere winning 
friends by his manly grace, his culture, and his 
gentle and courteous manners; but, underneath all, 
there was the sadness of a bruised and wounded 
spirit. 

At the small but brilliant Court of the Grand Duke 
Louis of Hesse-Darmstadt, he was a highly favored 
guest ; the Grand Duke had several fair daughters, none 
of whom were averse to becoming the bride of the heir 
apparent of the Russian throne ; but after spending some 
time there, he was about to leave, apparently fancy free, 
when he suddenly asked of the Grand Duke the hand of 
his youngest daughter, Marie, the most modest, timid, and 
retiring of all his family, and the one whom both the 
father and the other daughters had regarded as destined 
to a single life ; but her isolation, as well as her beauty 
of mind and person, had attracted the Czarovitch to her. 
They were betrothed, and when she had acquired the 
Eussian language, and been baptized into the Greek 
Church, they were married, in April, 1841. 

At the age of nineteen, Alexander had been chosen 
Chancellor of the University of Helsingfors, in Finland, 
and after his marriage he devoted himself to the work 
of gaining the love of the Finns, and winning them to 



702 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



a more cordial and hearty allegiance to Eussia, of whick 
they had hitherto been, except in name, independent. 
He entered most earnestly into all their scientific enter- 
prises, defraying the cost from his own private purs& ; 
and so won their affections, that the rank of Grand Duke 
of Finland, to which he subsequently attained, has had 
a new significance in it, and to this day, it is the proud- 
est title he wears. After the death of his uncle, the 
Grand Duke Michael, he was, by his father, charged 
with the supervision of all the military schools of the 
empire, and received public thanks " for the care which 
he had taken to bring up the Eussian youth in the true 
Russian spirit." 

In 1850, he visited Southern Eussia, and the whole 
region north and east of the Black Sea, extending his 
journeys to the Caspian, and the Sea of Aral, and taking 
a part in the desultory warfare with the Circassians of 
the Caucasus. 

When his father contemplated war against Turkey 
and her allies in 1854, it is believed that Alexander did 
not accord with the Czar in regard to its necessity ; but 
when it was once declared, he was too thoroughly loyal 
to his father, and to Eussia, not to do all in his power to 
make it a success. Very touching were that father's 
last words to him, as he saw, with the clear vision of 
the dying, how completely his schemes had failed : 
u You know, my son, that the good of Eussia has been 
the sole end of all my solicitude and all my efforts. I 
desired to leave the empire fully organized, guaranteed 
from danger within and without, completely tranquil and 
happy. God wills otherwise. The burden will be heavy 
for you." A heavy burden, indeed, it was. The Crimean 
War was drawing to a close, and it had proved a series of 
disasters for Eussia; there was no hope of its termi- 



RULERS ALEXANDER II. 



705 



nation without loss of prestige, loss of naval power, and 
loss of territory. He ascended the throne on his father's 
death, March 2, 1855, and on taking his coronation oath, 
added to it, this solemn adjuration : " I swear to remain 
faithful to all the sentiments of my father, and to per- 
severe in the line of political principles which have pre- 
served his authority." He renewed this declaration in a 
manifesto addressed to the nation ; avowing his inten- 
tion to uphold the glory of the empire as it had been 
maintained by his predecessors. While his first council 
resolved, not in any way to interrupt the course of the 
war with the Allied powers, in which Russia was en- 
gaged, he was ready, so soon as the capture of Kars had 
made amends in the eyes of his people for the loss 
of Sevastopol, to make terms of peace with his foes. 

The situation of his empire was, at this time, an 
alarming one, and so astute an observer as Alexander, 
was not slow to appreciate the danger. In European 
Russia there were more than sixty millions of souls, but 
of these, nearly three-fourths were serfs — slaves, attached 
only to the soil. In the war- just concluded, he had been 
opposed by nations whose combined population, were not 
much larger than his own, and who were incapable of 
bringing into the field, at a point so remote from their 
own territory, anything like as large a force as that 
which he had called out. They were fighting for glory, or 
for an idea ; his people were fighting for their homes, their 
altars, their hearths, their wives and children ; yet he 
had been ignominiously defeated at every point. What 
could be the cause ? He saw two causes, which were- 
sufficient to account for his defeat ; the one, the univer- 
sal corruption which had permeated the whole civil and 
military service of the nation, and which had honey 
combed it through and through, till as his father had 



706 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



said, some years before: "There is not in all Russia an 
honest man, except myself.'' His first efforts must -"be 
directed to a thorough and radical reform of the entire 
military and civil service, and the clearing out of all this 
mass of corruption. This was a gigantic work. But the 
other cause of the failure of the war was still more 
stupendous ; it was the system of serfage, an evil greater 
than our American system of slavery, because it involved 
ten times as many persons. His people were slaves, who 
had no interest in the government under which they 
lived. His predecessors had striven to cope with this 
gigantic evil, and had failed completely. Could he be 
more successful ? 

He attacked it most courageously, and though he had 
strong friends to sustain him, he had also the bitter op- 
position of a considerable portion of the nobles, and seri- 
ous difficulties, before long, with the serfs themselves. 
It was nine years before the great work was accomplished, 
and forty-five millions of serfs set free ; and the im- 
mense toil which that work involved, and the weariness 
of spirit which it occasioned, made him an old man be- 
fore his time. At the very moment when he could look 
back over all these years of anxiety and toil, and say: 
" I have completed my work," his eldest son, a young man 
twenty-two years of age, and of great promise, suddenly 
sickened and died. From this added sorrow, he has 
never recovered, and almost daily, when in St. Peters- 
burg, he may be seen, a sad-visaged, pale, prematurely old 
man in plain dress, hastening, with but a single attendant, 
to the great but gloomy church of St. Peter and St. 
Paul, where the Imperial* House of Romanoff lie be- 
neath the costly marbles, there to kneel and pray at the 
tomb of his eldest son. 

During all the emancipation struggle, while he had to 



RULERS ALEXANDER II. 707 

contend, at times almost single-handed, with the nobles 
of the old school, and with the ignorant and rapacious 
serfs, whose interests he was trying to promote, he had, 
also, to control the restless spirits of Poland. That his 
father had committed a great crime against Poland, he 
well knew ; and when he came to the throne he resolved, 
as far as possible, to undo his father's misdeeds. The 
exiles in Siberia were recalled, schools were established, 
privileges granted, and the effort sincerely made, to win 
the affection and confidence of the Poles. " Only " he 
said to the Polish nobles at Warsaw, " I will have no 
reveries, no dreaming of a future independent kingdom 
of Poland, no conspiracies. I love Finland and Poland 
as well as any portion of my empire, and will be glad 
to have them prosper and be happy ; but it must be as 
portions of the one Russian empire. I greatly prefer to 
reward and encourage, rather than to punish; but if you 
compel me to be harsh, I shall show you that I can be as 
severe as my father." 

But the Poles have always been dreamers, and their 
nobles have constantly conspired against Russia ; and 
though, for a few months, his kindness and his excellent 
management paralyzed their hostile intentions, it was 
not long before he found that a wide-spread conspiracy, 
having its managers in Paris, was ready to develop itself, 
wmieh not only threatened his sway over Poland, but 
aimed at his dethronement, and the overthrow of his 
dynasty. It was put down with as little severity as possi- 
ble, and, at the instance of the other European powers, 
and, in accordance with his own mild disposition, Alexan- 
der permitted the return of those who had been exiled, 
the use of the Polish language, the restoration of religious 
worship (the Poles are largely Roman Catholics), the 
reorganization of schools, and other privileges. These 



708 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



favors only stimulated the Polish conspirators to greater 
zeal in carrying forward their schemes ; and finding that 
they were utterly incorrigible, Alexander fulfilled his 
pledge of a remorseless severity, which has accomplished 
his purpose, and probably put an end to their rebel- 
lious tendencies. He prohibited the nobles from obtain- 
ing after December, 1865, any seignioral rights or privi- 
leges in Poland, and promulgated laws, facilitating the 
sequestration of the goods of such as had conspired against 
the government. In August, 1866, he required that all 
public business throughout the empire (in Poland, as else- 
where), should be conducted in the Russian language ; 
and an insurrection of Poles exiled to Siberia occurring 
at this time, it was put down by the military with great 
severity and promptness. In September, of the same year, 
the titles and estates of Polish nobles who had been 
concerned in the insurrection, were conferred upon Kus- 
sians of the middle or trading class. In 1867, the 
Council of State of Poland, the last remaining relic of 
its ancient institutions, was abolished, and soon after 
a decree was issued, directing that public instruction in 
Poland should be under the immediate control of the 
Minister of Public Instruction at St. Petersburg. In 
April, 1868, the name of the kingdom of Poland was 
formally abolished, and soon after the Poles were pro- 
hibited from wearing in public their national costume. 
These enactments, though apparently severe, were 
brought upon their own heads by the Poles, and especi- 
ally by the Polish nobility, who, notwithstanding the 
sympathy which was wasted upon them, were not really 
patriots, but a selfish and tyrannical oligarchy, whose 
ideas of freedom consisted in doing as they pleased, and 
compelling all those who were under their sway, to sub- 
mit to their behests. Their principal reason for the 



RULERS ALEXANDER II. 



700 



insurrection of 1864-5, was that Alexander had pro- 
ceeded to emancipate their serfs, as he had already done 
those of Russia and of the crown. 

In his foreign policy, Alexander has maintained a dig- 
nified position ; not so haughty or unreasonable as that 
of his father, and the shrewd but imperious Nesselrode ; 
and while, at times, Prince Gortschakoff has manifested a 
little of the old Russian hauteur, his Imperial master 
has usually checked such manifestations, and has studied 
those measures which tended toward peace. In the Aus- 
trian-Italian war of 1859, and the Austrian-Prussian war 
of 1866, he maintained a careful neutrality. 

ABDUL HAMID II., 

Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and 35th in the royal 
line of Osman, is the second son and fourth child of 
Abdul Medjid, who was Sultan from 1839 to 1861. 
He was born September 5th, 1842; and, his mother hav- 
ing died while he was young, he was adopted by his 
father's second wife, herself childless, who was very 
wealthy, and who made him her heir. His early life 
was quiet and uneventful ; his boyhood and that of his 
brother (the deposed Murad V.) was a continual scene 
of merry idleness ; their education consisting mostly in 
amusements and tricks devised for their entertainment 
by the court slaves; and in an unusually early and 
complete initiation into the depravities of harem life, 
which, fortunately, did not affect his vigorous constitution 
as it did his brother's. Indeed, up to manhood, all the 
learning he had acquired, amounted to but little more 
than the ability to read in the Arabic and Turkish 
languages. When, in 1867, his uncle Abdul Aziz, the 
then reigning Sultan, visited the Paris Exposition, and 
England, he was accompanied by the two boys, Abdul 



710 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY, 



and Murad. This journey was, to young Abdul, the 
developing point of his character. He saw with a 
quick and appreciative eye ; he acquired a taste for 
political geography, and for European dress, customs, 
and interests ; and what he then learned, very consider- 
ably modified the subsequent course of his life. From 
April, 1876, both he and his brother Murad were kept 
under close surveillance, and not allowed to take any 
part in the political movements going on around them. 
In his kiosque, or small palace, in the valley of Sweet 
Waters, which he inherited from his father, he resided 
quietly, with his wife and two children, all eating at the 
same table ; studying ,the very extensive and comprehen- 
sive collection of military, geographical, and statistical 
maps which he had there collected ; playing with pet 
animals; and showing in his dress and surroundings 
his preference for European modes of life. His 
brother Murad succeeded his uncle Abdul Aziz, as Sul- 
tan, May 80, 1876 ; but being found mentally incom- 
petent to undertake the cares of State, he was de- 
posed August 30th, and Abdul Hamid succeeded him 
August 31st, and was invested with the sacred sword of 
Othman, September 7, 1876, under the title of the Padi- 
shah Abdul Hamid II. He is an orthodox Turk, and a 
resolute opponent of the " young Turkish party " — being 
in fact, an " old Turk," but not one of the fanatical sort 
— well disposed toward Giaours (infidels), but hating the 
Greeks. The only concession which he makes to Ori- 
entalism in personal dress is wearing the " fez," which 
he dislikes, but continues to wear as the necessary token 
of his nationality. He takes a sincere interest in the 
working classes, and their condition ; is measurably free 
from the peculiar vices of Turkish princes ; is neither 
given to wine, nor a spendthrift. 



ABDUL-HAM ID II., THE PRESENT SULTAN OF TURKEY. 



RULERS GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER CHARLES I. 713 



GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER, 

Czarovitch, heir-apparent to the Russian Imperial 
throne (since the death of his brother, the Grand Duke 
Nicholas, in April, 1865), is the second son of the Czar, 
Alexander and Maria Alexandrovna, daughter of Grand 
Duke Louis, Princess of Hesse. He was born March 
10th, 1845 ; married November 9th, 1866, the Princess 
Maria Sophie Frederique Dagmar, of Denmark, daugh- 
ter of King Christian IX. She is now style d the Grand 
Duchess Marie, the Czarevna. He is Lieut.-General, Het- 
man of the Cossacks, and Colonel of many regiments in 
the imperial service. Politically, like most crown princes, 
he is said to be in opposition to his father, and greatly 
in love with French policy and French ways. 

CHARLES I. 
Prince (Domnu) of Rotjmania. 

Charles I. (Prince Karl Eitel Friedrich Zephyrin 
Ludwig of Hohenzollern Sigmaringen), reigning prince 
of Roumania, or the United Danubian Principalities of 
Wallachia and Moldavia, was born April 20, 1839, and 
is the second son of the late Prince Karl of Hohenzol- 
lern Sigmaringen, chief of the second of the non-regnant 
lines of the princely house of Hohenzollern. The first 
ruler of Roumania was the notorious Colonel Alexander 
Couza, who had been elected Hospodar or Lord of 
Wallachia and Moldavia, under the title of Prince 
Alexander John I. in 1859, but was expelled, by the 
people, from the country in February, 1866. At that 
time Prince Charles, as a cadet of the house of Hohen- 
zollern, was a lieutenant in the second regiment of Prus- 
sian dragoons, and was* proposed to the Moldavo-Wal- 



714 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



laclrian Chamber of Deputies as their Doninu, or Prince, 
by the Prussian minister, and elected by them. He ac- 
cepted his election May 10, 1866, and made his public 
entry into Bucharest May 22, 1866, having two days pre- 
vious made his acknowledgment of the Suzerainty of 
Turkey, as its tributary. He was recognized by the 
Turkish government July 11, 1866, and in October fol- 
lowing received the formal investiture at the hands of 
the Sultan in Constantinople. 

The first three years of the reign of Prince Charles 
were only made notable by internal agitations of the 
principalities and by parliamentary crises. The Jews 
had for some years previous, particularly in Moldavia, 
been the objects of bitter cruelty and persecutions, and 
their sufferings had at length attracted the attention of 
the European powers, who, through their consuls or 
charges, represented to the prince that these barbarities 
were in many instances committed by the local author- 
ities themselves. Their representations on this point 
proved effective. The powers also repeatedly called the 
attention of the prince to the fact that large bodies of 
armed men were allowed to be recruited in Eoumania 
for the purpose of creating disturbance in Bulgaria, 
and even brought forward proofs that he had himself 
aided in preparing for a revolution in Bulgaria. This 
charge could not be denied, and from that time to 
the present, Bucharest, the Roumanian capital, has 
been the head-quarters of a revolutionary committee, 
mostly Sclavonic, which has had for its objects the pro- 
motion of revolt from the Turkish government in the 
provinces of Bulgaria, Bosnia, and the Herzegovina. 
That the inhabitants of these provinces have had suffi- 
cient cause to revolt from their Turkish masters is very 
probable, but neither the Roumanians, who are descend- 



RULERS CHARLES I. 



715 



ants of the ancient Romans and Dacians, and not Scla- 
vonians in any sense, nor their Prince, who is a Ger- 
man, have any right of kindred or race to help on this 
revolt, or as they have done, to endeavor to provoke it. 
The difficulties between the Prince and the Chamber of 
Deputies, led to the dissolution of the chamber in 1869. 
The legislative bodies, since that time, have been more 
tractable and there has been less quarreling. 

Prince Charles is a man of fine culture, a liberal and 
industrious ruler, and endowed with excellent personal 
qualities. Until recently, however, he has found his 
position one of great trouble and anxiety. He has had 
to contend with a factious opposition, composed of the 
adherents of his predecessor, Prince Alexander Couza, 
and of the irreconcilable Red Republicans or Commun- 
ists, who had attained considerable numbers and influ- 
ence before 1870; and their opposition had become so 
formidable in 1869-70, that, worn out with their con- 
stant wrangling, he avowed the purpose of abdicating 
and returning to Germany, and it was with great diffi- 
culty that he was persuaded to forego his intention. 
But even his enemies well knew how important his in- 
fluence for good in Roumania has been, and from very 
shame they have of late ceased their opposition in a 
great measure. 

An old Roumanian statesman said of him, not long 
since :* u He is a better Roumanian than most of us. He 
has dismissed from his mind all other sympathies, all 
other associations. He lives only to serve his adopted 
country, and has given himself to us without the least 
reservation. We, none of us know so much about the 
country, its qualities, properties, resources, susceptibili- 
ties, and capabilities as he does. He examines into every- 

* Quoted by Mr. George M. Towle in " The Principalities of tlie Danube." 



716 



THE CONQUEST OF TUKKEY. 



thing himself; he works harder than any of his subjects. 
What he has done for the army is above all praise. He 
brought us order, calmness, the possibility of putting 
constitutional principles of government into practice, 
even those whose pretensions to the Hospodariat have 
been shelved for an indefinite period of time, by his 
steady mastery of the obstacles thrust in his way, have, 
for the most part, been won over by his amiability, or 
fairly cowed by his straightforward honesty." 

The Prince has sought to improve the agriculture, com- 
merce, and education of his country, has established nor- 
mal and other schools, railways, and improvements of the 
river navigation, and from its abundant crops of wheat 
and other grain, and its manufactures, Eoumania might 
be a wealthy State ; but the ambition to have a standing 
array and a well-trained territorial army of militia has 
been the bane of his administration. The principalities 
had in 1876 a debt of $107,000,000, since largely in- 
creased, most of it contracted for war material and 
for railways. 

At the commencement of the late war, Eoumania was 
naturally somewhat timid, and sought to hold aloof from 
active participation. The Prince, however, true to the 
blood of the Hohenzollerns, was certainly not averse to an 
attempt to win distinction for himself and his people on 
the field of battle. The position of the territory, making 
it the natural highway for the Russian Army's march into 
European Turkey, contributed materially to the attainment 
of the Prince's desires; when the Imperial hosts passed 
unobstructed, even by a protest, through Eoumania, and 
Turkey naturally and justly resented the tacit if not avowed 
consent of Eoumania, the Prince found it easy to induce 
his Parliament to declare war. The Prince was in chief 
command at the third assault on Plevna and at its fall. 



PRINCE MILAN , HESPODAR OF SERYIA. 



EULEKS MILAN IV. 



719 



MILAN OBRENOYIC IV., 

Hospodar (Prince) of Servia, and the 4th of that dy- 
nasty, is a grandson of Ephraem Obrenovitch, brother 
of Milos, and a nephew of Prince Michael Obreno- 
vic III. who was assassinated in June, 1868. He was 
born August 10, 1854, at Jassy, of a Moldavian mother, 
who had married the only son of Prince Ephraem ; 
and was adopted by Prince Michael, who was childless. 
In 1864, he was sent to Paris to be educated, and there 
remained until his studies were interrupted by the 
events of June, 1869, and by the assassination of Prince 
Michael, his adopted father. Returning to Servia, he 
was proclaimed Prince, in July, 1868, the government 
being vested in a Council of Regency, during his mi- 
nority. On becoming of age, he ascended the consti- 
tutional throne of Servia, August 22, 1872. Prince Mi- 
lan, who is now in his twenty-third year, is represented 
as an amiable, but rather weak-minded young man, not 
well adapted for the trying times on which he has 
fallen. He is very much under Russian influence, and 
his declaration of war against Turkey in 1876, though 
prompted, in part, by sympathy for the unfortunate 
inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina, many of them of 
the same race and religion with his own people, was cer- 
tainly impolitic, as Servia had itself no ground of com- 
plaint against Turkey. He developed no military ability, 
and his armies were defeated, and his country so far 
imperiled, that only the prompt interposition of the 
great powers in its behalf, saved it from the Turk. In 
the late war, Servia was anxious to take part, as was the 
Prince, "but Austria insisted upon, and Russia pretended to 
favor, its neutrality. The fall of Plevna made it impossi- 
ble longer to maintain that attitude. 



720 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



NICOLAS I. 
Nikizza Petrovitch Niegush, 

Hospodar, or reigning Prince of Montenegro, son of the 
Prince Mirko Petrovitch, brother of the late Prince 
Danilo, Hospodar of Montenegro, who was assassinated 
August 12th, 1860, at Cattaro, was born at Cattaro 
about 1841 ; he pursued his early studies in his native 
city, but thence proceeded to Paris, where he completed 
his college course at the Lyceum of Louis le Grand. 
His uncle, Danilo, had intended him as his successor, 
and his widow, the Princess Darinka, on the 13th of 
August (the day after the assassination), placed the 
princely bonnet of Montenegro upon his head, saying, 
as she did so, that she was obeying the wishes of her 
late husband. She then brought the Notables, and 
the people in their several orders, up to take the oath 
of allegiance to [the young prince. A Pasha, sent by 
Abclul Medjid, came soon after to congratulate the 
young Hospodar. Prince Nicolas at this time publicly 
announced that he should subordinate his views to 
those of Napoleon III., who had granted $50,000 to his 
government, and under whose protection he was. At the 
same time he showed a disposition to cultivate friendly 
relations with the Sultan, and to submit their frontier 
difficulties to the arbitration of foreign powers. The 
people recognized in him an amiable and judicious ruler, 
but there were fears that he was too much under the in- 
fluence of his father, the Prince Mirko, who had for years 
been at the head of the war party. 

In February, 1861, the old border contests between 
the Turks and Montenegrins, which had for a long time 
been provoked by the uncertainty concerning the boun- 
dary lines between the two States, were renewed with 



RULERS NICOLAS I. 



721 



great fury, and the reports of the speedy disembarka- 
tion of Garibaldi, the massacres and pillage of the ir- 
regular Turkish troops in the district of Gatsko, and the 
slogan of insurrection, raised by the Christian inhabitants 
in Herzegovina, hastened the march of events. The Turk- 
ish fleet blockaded the coasts of the Adriatic, and Omer 
Pasha, was sent with a large body of troops to coerce 
Herzegovina. On the 4th of September, 1861, Dervish 
Pasha, in command of a division of the army of Omer 
Pasha, crossed the frontier and entered Montenegro. The 
Turks were defeated at Duga on the 4th of October, and 
at Djubo on the 25th. But the Turks took their revenge 
at Pira on the 21st of November. The war continued 
with nearly equal fortune for both sides, through the win- 
ter and spring ; the Turks outnumbered them five to one, 
and were well armed and equipped, but the Montenegrins, 
with their old and rusty muskets, and their fearful pov- 
erty, were fighting for their homes and families, and every 
mountain pass was an ambuscade, and when their am- 
munition was gone, they rained down stones upon the 
heads of their foes. In September, 1862, at the behest 
of the allied powers, the Turks made peace with the 
Montenegrins. They gained nothing of value to com- 
pensate for their immense losses ; and the brave Monte- 
negrins, who had gone into the war mainly from sympathy 
for the oppressed Christians of Herzegovina, had sacrificed 
their homes and their stalwart sons — 2,000 or more able- 
bodied men out of a population of not quite 150,000 — 
and had very little left, for their soil is so sterile that its 
principal product is men. In all this terrible contest the 
young prince Nicolas greatly endeared himself to his 
people, aiding them to the utmost of his ability, and ever 
ready to take the post of greatest danger. Just before the 
treaty of peace, in August, 1862, a renegade Montenegrin 



722 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



in Turkish employ attempted to assassinate him, and suc- 
ceeded in wounding him slightly, but the assassin drew 
upon himself the fierce vengeance of the people. The 
Montenegrins, poverty-stricken and destitute as they were, 
were long in recovering from the depressing effects of the 
war, having no foreign trade, and being shut off from the 
sea by a narrow strip of land, belonging to Austria- Hun- 
gary. Pitying their poverty, the prince, in 1868, requested 
that he might relinquish all the revenue which had hith- 
erto been collected for him, except the sum of $1,750. 
The Russian and French governments, on learning of this 
noble sacrifice on his part, granted to him, the former 
$7,000, and the latter $10,000 annually. The little Re- 
public was maintained in peace and quietness, and with 
gradually increasing prosperity, till the outbreak of the 
insurrection in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1875; but 
then the old heroic blood boiled, and the Montenegrin 
volunteers began to join the insurgents. When the 
Bulgarian massacres took place, in May, 1876, even the 
gentle Nicolas saw that war could not longer be delayed, 
and on the 2d of July, 1876, he and the Hospodar of 
Servia united in declaring war against Turkey. The 
war thus inaugurated, continued with varying fortune 
till December, 1876, when Servia, having suffered serious 
defeat, but Montenegro having more than held her own, 
an armistice was declared which resulted in temporary 
peace with Servia, and negotiations for the same end 
with Montenegro ; but peace could not be forced upon the 
Montenegrins while there was war in their vicinity with 
the Turkish Empire as one of the contestants. As the 
sole condition of peace, Prince Nicholas insisted upon the 
cession of Niksics, Koloschin and the Kutchi, to Monte- 
negro ; this being refused, Prince and people resumed hos- 
tilities, and conquered the demanded territory. 



PRINCE GORTSCHAKOFF, PREMIER OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 



H. STATESMEN. 

G0RTSCHAK0FF, PRINCE ALEXANDER MICHAELOVITCH, 

Russian Diplomatist, Statesman, Minister of War, and' 
cousin to General Gortschakoff, the defender of Sebasto- 
pol, was born July 16, 1798, and educated at the Lyceum 
of Zarskoe-Selo. His diplomatic life commenced, as an 
attache of Count Nesselrode, at the congresses of Lay- 
bach and Verona; and, in 1824, he was secretary to the 
Russian embassy at London. In 1830, he was charge, 
d'affaires at the Court of Tuscany; and in 1832 was 
attached, as councillor to the Russian embassy at Vienna, 
where, in the absence of his chief, he had frequent occa- 
sion to discharge important duties ; and finally succeeded 
to the position, on the death of the ambassador. In 1841, 
he was sent to Stuttgart, where he successfully negotiated 
the marriage of the Grand Duchess Olga, of Russia, to 
the Prince Royal (the present King) of "Wirt enib erg. 
During the events of 1848-9, he maintained an attitude 
of neutrality; though he was credited, in 1850, with 
having influenced the abdication of the Emperor Ferdi- 
nand I., of Austria, in favor of his nephew Francis Joseph. 
In that year, Prince Gortschakoff was ambassador pleni- 
potentiary to the German Diet at Frankfort. In 1851, 
he attended the Emperor Alexander, in his conference 
with the Emperor Napoleon III., at Stuttgart. During 
the discussions among the Great Powers of Europe on the 
Eastern question, the Prince was ambassador at Vienna, 
and it was at his instance, that the Russian government 
accepted the four points, which formed the basis of the 
Conference of Paris, in 1856 ; and in the same year, he 
was recalled to St. Petersburg, to succeed Nesselrode as 



726 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Minister of War. His friendliness to France increased 
as the latter became more hostile to Austria on the Ital- 
ian question; and his desire to restore the prestige of 
Russia, which had been seriously impaired by the Cri- 
mean War, led him, in 1860, to address a circular dispatch 
to the European powers, in reference to the Sicilian and 
Neapolitan revolution, in which he enunciated the same 
principles of nationality as Russia had always maintained 
in regard to the Christians of the East ; and, while dis- 
avowing any wish for revenge for past defeats, still 
boldly remonstrated against any interference with Nea- 
j)olitan affairs on the part of the Western powers. He 
decidedly favored the French Expedition to Syria, of 
1863, for the protection of the Christians in that land; 
and declined to join France and Great Britain in their 
unfriendly attitude towards the United States, at the 
outbreak of the Civil War. During the Polish Insurrec- 
tion of 1863, his outspoken avowal of the determination 
of Russia to stand no dictation, and to manage her own 
affairs, rendered him very popular at home, and respected 
abroad ; and won for him, from the Emperor, the new 
title of Vice-chancellor of the empire ; and shortly after 
he was promoted to the full Chancellorship. In 1866, he 
effected the complete separation of the Roman Catholic 
clergy of Poland from the Holy See. In October, 1870, 
while Paris was besieged by the Germans, Prince Gort- 
schakoff seized the opportunity to undo the injury which 
had been done to Russian interests in the East, by 
the treaty of Paris, in 1856, by issuing a circular to the 
various representatives of his government abroad, an- 
nouncing the resolution of the Emperor to be no longer 
controlled by that treaty, so far as it limited his rights of 
sovereignty in the Black Sea. This led to a Conference of 
European Powers, held at London in January, 1871, where 



STATESMEN PRINCE GOKTSCIIAKOFF. 



727 



lie succeeded in securing a revision of that treaty, and the 
formation of another, by which neutral rights in the 
Black Sea were abolished. For this masterly stroke of 
clilpomacy, he was rewarded by the Emperor with the 
title of Serene Highness. In the Central Asia question, 
in 1873-4, while maintaining firmly the aggressive policy 
of his own government, he still manifested a friendly 
disposition toward England. While Prince Gortscha- 
koff has the re|>utation, especially with the English Con- 
servatives, of belonging to that class of diplomatists and 
statesmen who believe that "language was invented to 
conceal thought," and while his motives and declarations 
in regard to the Eastern question have been very freely 
called in question, by writers of the Disraeli-Derby 
school, there is no reason to believe that he has been 
guilty of deception or duplicity in the course he has taken 
in regard to Turkey; and all the declamation on this 
subject is based upon English jealousy and envy. The 
Prince is an old man, seventy-nine years of age, and even 
though sprung from a long-lived race, has no reason 
to believe that he would live to see the end of such a 
conflict, if once commenced ; his career as a Minister of 
Foreign Affairs does not date back to the reign of Nicho- 
las, whose favorite was the wily Nesselrode — while the 
reorganization of the army, the condition of the finances, 
the recent large war expenditure in Central Asia, the 
heavy rate of taxation, and above all, the peaceful in- 
stincts and principles of the Czar, were sufficient to re- 
strain him from entering at this time upon a war with 
Turkey, if it could have been avoided. 

It is true that there were three strong influences among 
the Russian people in favor of war — their sympathy in 
religious belief with the oppressed and outraged Bulga- 
rians, Bosnians, Herzegovinians, and Servians, a sympathy 



728 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



which among a large class of Russians was very strong 
and almost uncontrollable; — the ethnic plea which sought 
to draw all the Sclavonic peoples into one government 
of which the Czar should be the head ; (this influence is 
represented by the Sclavonic committee, which has been 
openly organized under governmental sanction, whose 
ostensible object was to render aid to the sick, wounded, 
and perishing Sclavonians of the Turkish provinces, and 
to enable them to maintain suits against their oppressors. 
Previous to January, 1877, this committee had raised 
$2,000,000 for these purposes) ; and, thirdly, the political 
and economical influence which sought control of the 
Black Sea, and markets for its products, in or near the 
Mediterranean. 

But though Prince Gortschakoff could not be wholly 
insensible to these influences, which pervaded so large a 
part of the Russian people, there is abundant evidence 
that he was not ready for war, and that he sought to 
avert it by every means in his power — dissuading Servia 
from taking up arms; checking the enterprise of the 
Sclavonic committee; rej^ressing the aspirations of the 
political economists who were urging expansion south- 
ward; uniting heartily with the other powers in such 
measures as tended to prevent war, and making conces- 
sions, which seemed beyond what could reasonably be re- 
quired from a power like Russia, in the interests of peace. 

But when all these failed, and it became evident that 
Turkey was determined upon war, the old statesman 
showed that the snows of even seventy-nine Russian 
winters had not dimmed his vision, or abated his natural 
force ; and with the aid of his trusty subordinates, he 
had already sent into the field, within thirty days after 
the declaration of war, 400,000 men, fully equipped for 
service, with over 100,000 horses, and 1,730 guns, aside 



STATESMEN GENERAL IGNATIEFF. 



729 



from the irregular troops; and has a reserve of much 
larger numbers, already mobilizing, to support them. 
Prince Gortschakoif ranks with Bismarck and Andrassy, 
as one of the most eminent statesmen of Europe. 

GENERAL IGNATIEFF. 

Paul Nicholas, Count Ignatieff, a General in the 
Russian Army, and one of the most skillful of modern 
diplomatists, was born in St. Petersburg, in 1831, the 
Czar Nicholas being his god-father. His family were 
among the highest of the old Russian nobility, and the 
young Count had all the advantages of both military 
and civil education which wealth and eminent social po- 
sition could confer. He studied at the German universi- 
ties, and was initiated into the mysteries of diplomacy 
by the veteran Gortschakoff. In accordance with the 
Russian customs in diplomacy, he was at first employed 
as a subordinate at one of the more important European 
courts, and gradually advanced to higher positions. In 
his case the preferment came unusually early. In 1864, 
when but thirty-three years of age, he was sent as Rus- 
sian Minister to Constantinople, and three years later 
raised to the rank of Ambassador. His skill in diplom- 
acy, which was, upon occasions, accompanied with a curt 
manner, won for him the approval of his superiors. 
That he was unscrupulous, must be admitted. He had 
managed to gain the confidence of the Sultan Abdul 
Aziz, and, the Turkish Ministers declare, had nearly 
completed a treaty with him, by which the Sultan was 
to relinquish some important provinces of Asiatic Tur- 
key to Russia, when Midhat Pasha compelled the Sultan 
to abdicate, and his scheme was overthrown. At the 
Conference, iii December, 1876, General Ignatieif repre- 



730 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



sented Russian interests, and was said to be very haughty 
and imperious in his demands. He subsequently visited 
most of the European capitals, and his mysterious out- 
givings in regard to the Russian policy excited much at- 
tention. Like most of the Russian noblesse, General 
Ignatieff has a fine and commanding address, and a 
specious and somewhat insinuating manner. 

MIDHAT PASHA, 

a Turkish statesman of remarkable ability, who, though 
belonging to the " Old Turkish " or Softa party, has 
manifested a clearer perception of the reforms necessary 
to the existence of the Turks as an European nation, and 
greater determination in enforcing them than any other 
man of his race since Mahmoud II. 

Midhat Pasha is, we believe, a native of Constantino- 
ple, and of good family. He was born about 1830, and 
after receiving as good an education as Constantinople 
could afford, visited western Europe and endeavored to 
improve his mind by society and travel. He was, on his 
return, soon called into the service of the Sultan, first, as 
vali or commander of the provinces of the Danube in 
Bulgaria, and about 1867, as Pasha or Governor of the 
Vilayet of Bulgaria. From this position he was trans- 
ferred to the Vilayet or Province of Bagdad about 1870, 
and in 1872 recalled to Constantinople to become Grand 
Vizier. In 1874, he was dismissed, in one of the fre- 
quent changes of that year ; but after a few months was 
reinstated, and remained in that position (the equivalent 
of the English premier) through nearly all the rest of the 
reign of Abdul Aziz, the short and gloomy sultanate of 
Murad V., and the beginning of Abdul Hamid's reign, 
resigning office in February, 1877, since which date he 



STATESMEN MIDHAT PASHA. 



731 



has visited Paris and London. His friends among the 
Softas have demanded his return to power, and have 
even threatened the deposition of Abdul Hamid II. and 
the restoration of Murad V. unless their demands were 
granted. The excitement has only been quieted by the 
imprisonment and banishment of many of the Softas, but 
the probabilities of his return are yet very great. 

In all the positions which he has held, Midhat Pasha 
has shown himself disposed to act justly and honorably, 
though with the full conviction, that the faith of Islam 
and the Ottoman power must be preserved at all hazards. 
He was generally esteemed as a ruler in Bulgaria, al- 
though he stamped out the attempts at rebellion there, 
in 1867 and 1868, with great promptness and decision, 
destroying all the insurgents who were found with arms 
in their hands, but committing no outrages. In 1870 and 
1871, he vigorously opposed the issuing of a firman 
granting to the Bulgarian Catholic Church a separate 
and independent autonomy, because it contributed to 
the civil independence of the Bulgarians. In Bagdad, he 
had rather the natural apathy and indolence of the Turk 
to contend with than any religious schism; and he 
exerted a wholesome influence in stimulating them to 
greater activity. When he succeeded Mahmoud Ned- 
hem Pasha as Grand Vizier in 1872, he sought to estab- 
lish practicable reforms. One of the most important of 
these, at that time, was the reduction of the reckless ex- 
penditure in which the Sultan and the high officers of 
the Porfce indulged. The revenue almost every year 
was less than the expenditure, and in time of peace the 
empire had largely increased its debt, yet the Sultan, 
Abdul Aziz, went on building each year a new and 
gorgeous palace, at enormous expense, which, when com- 
pleted, he seldom or never entered. Corruption was rife 



732 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



everywhere, and the example of the Sultan was quoted 
as justification of bold robberies and frauds. Midhat 
Pasha saw that he must begin at the root of the matter; 
and accordingly he dismissed the Minister of Finance, for 
furnishing the Sultan with half a million of dollars with- 
out consulting him, and then addressed a letter to the 
Sultan himself, remonstrating in the most energetic 
terms against his reckless extravagance, and the gross 
misuse of the public funds. He declared that it was 
impossible to govern a State whose rulers would not be 
controlled in their expenditure. The Sultan, whose mind 
was failing from his evil habits, was furiously angry, and 
dismissed him from office in the spring of 1874 ; but after 
trying three others, none of whom was capable of man- 
aging the affairs of State, he was glad to reinstate him be- 
fore the close of the year. 

While managing the affairs of the empire, which was 
now apparently on the eve of revolution, insurrections 
occurring in Bosnia, the Herzegovina, and a little later in 
Bulgaria, as well as in several of the Asiatic provinces, 
all of which he put down with the strong hand, he had 
set himself the task of preparing a constitution and of 
procuring the signature of the Sultan to it. His consti- 
tution was a good one ; it promised many reforms, for 
the amelioration of the condition of the Christian popu- 
lation, the better collection of taxes, and the more equal 
distribution of the burdens on the national property, it 
prohibited the farming of the taxes, or their collection by 
measures of brutality. He would not consent, however, 
to the enlistment of any but Moslems in the military or 
naval service of the empire, but required the payment 
of a large sum for the exemption of the Christians of 
military age. The reforms proposed by this constitu- 
tion were probably much greater than were practicable, 



STATESMEN MIDI! AT PASHA. 



733 



but Midhat Pasha procured the signature and seal of 
the Sultan to it, and when he undertook, as he did 
very soon to override it, addressed him a long letter, 
in which, with a plainness seldom exercised by an officer 
of State to his Sovereign, he informed him that the 
work of the constitution had not ended with its promul- 
gation. Again was the Grand Vizier dismissed and 
Mahmoud Pasha called to take his place. But the 
Softas, the leaders of the old Turkish party, threatened 
the weak and half imbecile Sultan, and compelled the 
reinstatement of Midhat Pasha, Hussein Avni Pasha, 
and Raschid Pasha. The new ministers held a council 
and decided that Abdul Aziz must be deposed, and Mid- 
hat Pasha informed him of the decision and enforced it. 
Murad V., his nephew, was immediately proclaimed, and 
a week later, the deposed Sultan committed suicide. On 
the 15th of June, 1876, a Turkish officer of Circassian 
birth, Hassan by name, found his way into the council of 
ministers who were assembled at the country house of Mid- 
hat Pasha, and killed Hussein Avni Pasha, the Minister of 
War, and Baschid Pasha, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
and wounded two or three others, Midhat Pasha among 
the number. The assassin was seized at once — the Grand 
Vizier showing great presence of mind in causing his arrest 
—and was speedily tried and executed. The new Sultan, 
Murad V., proving insane and as imbecile as his uncle, was 
deposed August 31, and his brother, Abdul Hamid II. 
crowned in his stead. During all these changes, which, 
indeed, were mainly made by his direction, Midhat Pasha 
remained Grand Vizier, and at the conference of the 
Powers at Constantinople in December, 1875, he took 
very strong ground, replying to the charges of his crim- 
inal knowledge of, and complicity in the Bulgarian out- 
rages, by referring France to the St. Bartholomew mas- 



734 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



sacre, England to her treatment of Nana Sahib's fol- 
lowers, Austria to the Hungarian insurrection, and Rus- 
sia to her treatment of Poland. He then brought for- 
ward his constitution, which he claimed was to be en- 
forced as soon as possible throughout the Empire. The 
conference was without beneficial results, and in Febru- 
ary, the Sultan dismissed him from office and made Ed- 
hem Pasha his successor. 

How far Midhat Pasha was responsible for the Bul- 
garian outrages is a matter not easily settled. That he 
permitted the employment of Bashi-Bazouks, in some 
instances, seemed to be proved, and that some of the 
worst and most brutal of the leaders of these bands of 
ruffians, were promoted and rewarded by the orders of 
Hussein Avni Pasha, then Minister of War, is equally cer- 
tain ; it is hardly probable that this could have been 
done, without the Grand Vizier's knowledge ; yet, dur- 
ing the exciting scenes of that period, and his temporary 
absence from power, during the month of May, 1876, 
there is a possibility of his innocence, and his previous 
good record should be allowed to be used in his favor. 

He is unquestionably a man of great executive ability 
and daring, and if European Turkey has a future, it is 
not improbable that he may be a prominent actor in that 
future. 

EDHEM PASHA, 

the recent Grand Vizier of Turkey, though by relig- 
ion and education a Mohammedan, is said to be a Greek, 
a native of the isle of Scio, where he was born in 1823. 
In boyhood he was purchased by the well-known Turk- 
ish statesman Khosru Pasha ; but the manner in which 
he performed the servile duties allotted to him, attracted 
the attention and favor of his master, and, in 1832, he 



EDHEM PASHA, GRAND VIZIER OF TURKEY. 



STATESMEN MIDHAT PASHA. 



737 



was sent, with three other youths, to Paris to be edu- 
cated. There he entered the JScole des Mines, and 
quickly distinguished himself by his patience and apti- 
tude for study. He remained at this school until 1835, 
making several tours through France, Germany, and 
Switzerland, in the prosecution of his scientific and 
mining studies. He returned to Constantinople in 1839, 
and was soon appointed a captain in the General Staff, 
being assigned to topographical work, in which he showed 
so much skill, that he was rapidly promoted to the rank 
of colonel. He was also tutor in French to the present 
Sultan, Abdul Hamid II. Eising rapidly in royal favor 
he became, in 1819, aide-de-camp to Abdul Medjid, the 
reigning Sultan, and captain-general of the Imperial 
Guard. He also filled the duties of Chamberlain of the 
Imperial palace, and became a member of the Council of 
State. After Ali Pasha's dismissal he succeeded him as 
Minister of Foreign Affairs; and subsequently repre- 
sented his country at several European courts. While 
ambassador at Berlin, in 1876, he was called to take the 
position of Second Plenipotentiary of the Porte, at the 
Constantinople Conference of European Powers. On the 
downfall of Midhat Pasha, February, 1877, he was ap- 
pointed Grand Vizier. He belongs to the "Young Turk- 
ish" party, of which Veflk EfTendi, the new President 
of the Chamber of Deputies, is an eminent leader. At 
the conference, Edhem Pasha was more outspoken than 
politic. AYhen some of the other ambassadors referred 
to the atrocities committed by the Turks in Bulgaria, 
he retorted with a stinsrinsr reference to the massacre of 
St. Bartholomew's Day, and to the scenes of the French 
Revolution of 1793; and while he did not oppose the 
new constitution as a form of government, he did strong- 
ly object to placing the Christians, even in theory, on a 



738 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



par with Mahometans. He expressed his view that the 
constitution was a weak concession to the clamor of 
Europe, and contrary to the sacred honor and principles 
of Turkish nationality; and, in fact, his whole atti- 
tude in the conference was that of outspoken, uncom- 
promising loyalty to Turkey — even to the extent of 
war. 

His course as Grand Vizier has been marked "by simi- 
lar characteristics; but he has not fully satisfied the 
Softas, a turbulent but influential class of Mahometan 
fanatics, who caused the overthrow of Abdul Aziz and 
of Murad V., and in the latter part of May, 1877, were 
clamoring for a change of the cabinet. Still he is, from 
a Turkish point of view, one of the ablest statesmen 
who has had charge of the government for some years 
past. • 

SAFVET PASHA, 

a Turkish diplomatist and statesman, born in Constan- 
tinople about 1817, was trained for diplomacy under 
Aali and Fuad Pasha, whose views he has always main- 
tained. He was during the latter part of the reign of 
Abdul Med j id, and the early portion of that of his suc- 
cessor, Abdul Aziz, the Turkish Ambassador to France, 
and was very popular in Paris from his engaging man- 
ners, his extensive culture, and his enlightened views. 
Being subsequently recalled to Constantinople, he served 
in the Ottoman Porte, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
Minister of Justice and Minister of Public Instruction, 
and later, Minister of War, succeeding Hussein Avni 
Pasha in that capacity. He is more thoroughly a re- 
former than Midhat Pasha, and has no sympathy for, or 
affiliation with the Softas, who have been for some time 
clamoring for his removal. He is reputed a member of 



STATESM EN S AF VET PASHA. 



739 



the peace party, who are anxious to save the empire 
from entire destruction, by yielding a part of Russia's 
demands, before the time shall come when a part will 
not satisfy her. He has the reputation among his col- 
leagues, and the diplomatists who have served with him, 
of being upright, high-minded, conciliatory and shrewd. 
His present position is a critical and undesirable one, as 
the mob have hitherto ruled Constantinople ; but he has 
shown great courage and nerve, in causing the arrest and 
banishment of many of the Softa leaders. 



ANDRASSY (COUNT) JULIUS, 

Prime Minister of the Austro-Hungarian empire, was 
born March 8, 1823, at Zemplen, Hungary. He belongs 
to a family known for eleven centuries in Bosnia, and for 
sixteen in Hungary, where they held vast estates and the 
rank of counts. His father, Count Charles, who died in 
1845, was an opposition member of the Hungarian Diets 
of 1839-40 and 1843-44 ; wrote, in German, " Outlines of 
a Possible Reform in Hungary ; " and was distinguished 
for his efforts to promote the scientific and industrial prog- 
ress of his native country. Count Julius succeeded his 
father as president of the society for regulating the course 
of the river Theiss; and was returned by his native town, 
in 1847, to the Presburg Diet of 1847-8, in which his 
oratory and political ability rendered him conspicuous. 
He lent his whole influence in favor of the Hungarian 
revolution, and as- lord-lieutenant of the county of Zemp. 
len, led its militia into the field. After the Hungarian 
government had fled to Debreczin, he was sent on a mis- 
sion to, Constantinople ; and on the triumph of the Aus- 
trian arms, he went into exile (1849-57) in France and 
England, a price being set upon his head by the Austrian 



740 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



government. Returning, in the latter year, under the gen- 
eral amnesty, he was again chosen a member of the Diet 
of 1860-1 ; and, supported by the Deak party, was 
Vice-President of the Diet of 1865-6, and chairman of 
its committee on relations of the Austrian empire. On 
the accession of the Beust Ministry, October, 1866, fol- 
lowed by the recognition of Hungarian sovereignty in 
the new Austro-Hungarian empire, he was, at Deak's 
demand, February, 1867, made the Premier of Hungary, 
and the defences of that portion of the empire assigned 
to his care. His administration — which was signalized 
by the civil and political emancipation of the Jews; by 
raising the means for perfecting the railway system of 
Hungary ; by his selection of several members of the 
government from the ranks of the people ; by his prose- 
cution of the measures broached by the committee of 
1865-6, in support of Hungary's sovereign rights; and 
various financial, military and judicial reforms — rendered 
him highly popular at home, and respected abroad. At 
the general election of 1869, he was unanimously re- 
turned by the electors of Pesth, to the Hungarian Cham- 
ber of Representatives. 

During the Franco-German war, though sympathizing 
with France, he insisted on strict neutrality ; he favored 
the overthrow of papal temporal power ; and was antag- 
onistic to Russia on the Eastern question, until in Novem- 
ber, 1871, he resigned his position as Premier of Hungary, 
having been called to succeed Count Beust as Minister 
of Foreign Affairs of the Austro-Hungarian empire, since 
which time he has seemed to ignore all external compli- 
cations, and to seek only for the preservation of peace. 
Among his efforts, to this end, not the least important 
have been those which have had reference to the Eastern 
question. His views have been marked by a profound 



STATESMEN COUNT ANDRASSY. 



741 



appreciation of the questions at issue, and a generous and 
statesmanlike breadth of view which had previously been 
entirely unknown in Austrian politics. In December, 
1875, anxious for the sake of Austria-Hungary, as well as 
for the sake of the peace of Europe, to put an end to the 
difficulties between Turkey and its provinces, which were 
even then threatening to involve adjacent States, he drew 
up a note, which has passed into history as "Count 
Andrassy's Note," for which he sought and received the 
concurrence of the other great powers, proposing to the 
Ottoman Porte : 

"1. The proclamation of religious liberty, full and 
entire. 2. Abolition of the farming of taxes. 3. A law 
to guarantee that the direct taxation of Bosnia and 
Herzegovina should be employed for the immediate in- 
terests of those provinces. 4. A special commission, 
composed of an equal number of Mussulmans and Chris- 
tians, to superintend the execution of the reforms pro- 
claimed and proposed. 5. The amelioration of the con- 
dition of the rural population." These propositions, 
though sustained by the six great powers, were ignored 
by Turkey, and perhaps could not, under the circum- 
stances, have been enforced by her. Not discouraged by 
this, in his efforts to accomplish so desirable a result, 
Count Andrassy, on the 14th of May, 1876, united with 
the representatives of Russia and Germany in the prep- 
aration of what is technically known as the " Berlin 
Memorandum," which provided for a guaranty by the 
great powers of the several reforms which the Porte, with 
its usual proclivity for promises, had proclaimed, but had 
not reduced to practice. The pressure to be put upon 
the Porte, was to be only such as would secure the per- 
formance of its pledges. The Conservative Cabinet of 
Great Britain objected to this memorandum, and refused 



742 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



to sign it, alleging that it must obviously and inevitably 
lead to the military occupation of Turkey. The Bulgarian 
atrocities, which had already been perpetrated, but were 
not known when this Berlin Memorandum was signed, 
afforded added reasons for the action which the three 
powers had taken, and led to the declaration of war 
against Turkey, by the Prince of Servia and the Hospo- 
dar of Montenegro, on the 2d of July, 1876. Still intent 
on preserving the peace of Europe, Count Andrassy ex- 
erted all his powers to procure an armistice, and subse- 
quently to promote the assembling of a conference of the 
powers at Constantinople, which met on the 11th of 
December, and in which the six powers participated. 
Their conclusions were not accepted by the Porte, which 
at this time was under new rulers, but a constitution was 
promulgated by the Sultan which was utterly impracti- 
cable, and, as a last resort, Prince Gortschakoff, the Rus- 
sian Premier, drew up a protocol, which after some 
modifications was signed by the six jDowers, inviting the 
Porte to place its army on a j)eace footing, and as peace 
had now been made between Servia and Turkey, the 
Powers pledged themselves to watch carefully the man- 
ner in which the promises of the Porte were carried into 
effect, and declared that in the event that their hopes 
were disappointed, and the peace of Europe was dis- 
turbed, they should reserve to themselves the considera- 
tion of the means which might be necessary to secure 
the well-being of the Christian population, and the in- 
terests of the general peace. This protocol was signed 
March 31, 1877, and its conciliatory tone was largely 
due to the joint efforts of Count Andrassy and the Eng- 
lish representatives. The Porte rejected it summarily, 
and war was declared between Russia and Turkey, April 
24, 1877, in which Roumania and Servia have maintained 




PRINCE OTTO VON BISMARCK, CHANCELLOR OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 



STATESMEN 



— -PRINCE BISMARCK. 



745 



a neutrality favoring Russia, while Montenegro has re- 
newed the war with Turkey. Count Andrassy's efforts 
to prevent Austria-Hungary from being involved in the 
war, and to maintain a complete neutrality, have been 
very great, and thus far (April, 1878) have proved suc- 
cessful 

PRINCE VON BISMARCK-SCHONHAUSEN. 

Charles Otho Edward Leopold, Prince Von Bismarck- 
Schonhausen, Chancellor of the German Empire, is of a 
noble family of Saxony, which traces its ancestry back 
to a Sclavonic origin. He was born in the ancestral 
castle of Sehonhausen, in the district of Jerichow, Sax- 
ony, April 1, 1814 or 1815. The authorities are about 
equally divided, as to the year of his birth. His family 
had long borne high office in the service of the Saxon 
and Prussian kings, and he was from childhood destined 
to the same service. He received his university and 
professional training, for the legal profession, at Gottin- 
gen, Berlin, and Greifswald, and after obtaining his de- 
gree of Ph. D., determined to spend some time in mili- 
tary pursuits. (His reorganization of the army, now 
makes it compulsory on every educated man, to do what 
he did voluntarily). He served first in the light infan- 
try, and finally attained a lieutenancy in the Landwehr, 
or first Reserves. He was in no haste to enter public 
life, and did not seek an election to the Diet of Saxony, 
till 1846, or to the General Diet, till 1847. In the latter, 
he soon became the leader of the Junker, or conservative 
party, and while he was known as "the Mad Bismarck," 
from the intensity of his conservatism, and his bold 
declarations in favor of the Royal prestige and preroga- 
tive, he had already gained a reputation, by his elo- 



746 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



quence, his brilliant paradoxes, and his love of contro- 
versy. It was in the first or second annual session of 
the General Diet which he attended, that he advo- 
cated, with great vehemence, the leveling of every large 
city to the earth, because they were, everywhere, the 
-centers of democracy and constitutionalism. He has 
learned the advantages of constitutions since those days, 
but he is very far from being a democrat even now. 
In the revolution of 1848, he was an ardent royalist, 
and neither had, nor pretended to have, any sympathy 
with the revolutionists. He opposed, most passion- 
ately, the constitution and the German Parliament at 
Frankfort. His extreme loyalty to the king, Frederick 
William IV., led to his promotion to the position of 
first secretary of the Prussian legation at Frankfort, in 
May, 1857, and to his appointment three months later, 
to be Prussian Ambassador to the German Confederacy. 
He retained this position until the spring of 1859, being 
at all times, the vigilant adversary of Austria and its 
policy. He had mastered the whole subject of the Aus- 
trian hostility to Prussia, and the craft with which her 
minister, Count von Rechber^ was managing: the affairs 
of Austria, and understood her policy so well, that the 
Prussian Cabinet felt that no other man could be trusted 
in that important position. In 1858, he published 
anonymously, a pamphlet of great ability, entitled, " Prus- 
sia and the Italian Question." In 1859, he was ap- 
pointed Minister to St. Petersburg, and while occupying 
that position, visited Paris in 1860 ; in 1861, he ex- 
plained to the king his views of the necessity of a reor- 
ganization of the army, and in April, 186*2, was recalled 
from St. Petersburg by the king, who was in conflict with 
the Diet, concerning this reorganization, and who offered 
him the Presidency of the Cabinet ; but with his far- 



STATESMEN PRINCE BISMARCK. 



747' 



reaching views, lie preferred to ascertain first the plans 
of the court of France, before taking a place in the Cabi- 
net, and he accordingly accepted the post of Minister to 
France for that purpose. In September, 1862, on the 
withdrawal of Von der Heydt and Von Roon from the 
Cabinet, because the Diet had refused to approve of the 
plan of reorganization proposed by the king and minis- 
try, Bismarck was called from Paris, and became at once 
Minister of Foreign Affairs, and President of the Cabinet. 
Neither the king nor his premier were lacking in a de- 
termined will, and believing this reorganization of the 
army absolutely necessary to their plans, for the future 
prosperity of Prussia, they fought a long and strenuous 
battle with the Diet over it. The struggle was severe, 
as neither party was willing to yield, and the king and 
Bismarck could not then expose the purpose they had in 
view — which was to prevent Austria from ruling over 
the Germanic Diet and to expel her from it, as the only 
means of preventing the destruction of Prussia, which had 
lono^ been the intention of Austria. The Diet was dis- 
solved, and the freedom of the press restricted ; but the 
new Diet was yet more unmanageable, and the press law 
was, of necessity, repealed. The position of Austria at 
this time, opened the eyes of some of the deputies, and 
after a time, Bismarck received a better support. The 
conflict in regard to the duchies of Schleswio; and Hoi- 
stein, were a further step toward what Bismarck saw was 
inevitable — war with Austria. This had been threat- 
ened for nearly two years ; but the Liberals in the Prus- 
sian Chamber of Deputies, were, as they afterward ac- 
knowledged, strangely blind to their own interests, and 
opposed the war with great violence, some of them going 
so far as to lament, that the attempt of Ferdinand Cohn, 
to assassinate Bismarck in May of that year (1866), had 



748 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



not been successful. But the resolute Premier had 
gained his king fully to his own views, and he went 
forward promptly without regarding their opposition. 
The war lasted but seven weeks, and then Austria was on 
her knees begging for mercy, with her enemy at the 
gates of Vienna. Bismarck did not care to capture Vi- 
enna. The cholera had broken out among the German 
troops ; Napoleon III. was occupying a threatening atti- 
tude, which he was not quite ready to punish ; and he 
had gained his great points, the breaking up of the old 
Germanic Diet, the formation of a North Germanic Con- 
federation, from which Austria was excluded, and the 
leadership of Prussia in all Germanic matters. The 
South German States desired to enter his North German 
Confederation, but he would not permit it then, as he 
said they had other lessons to learn. The Catholic party 
in Bavaria, were bitterly hostile to him ; but he paid no 
attention to their threats, and indeed, he had no occasion 
to do so, for his admirable management had won all 
hearts to him in North Germany. He was created 
Count von Bismarck-Sckonhausen, by the King, and a 
splendid dotation voted him by the Chambers, those who, 
six months before, had wished that the assassin had killed 
him, being the heartiest in their vote for his reward. 

Then came the Luxemburg matter, when Napoleon III. 
undertook to seize the little duchy, which Holland had 
been over-persuaded to make over to him. Knowing 
Napoleon's hatred of Prussia, Bismarck sent this message 
to him, " If France does not withdraw her pretensions to 
Luxemburg, Prussia will send an army of 900,000 men 
into the field, to compel her to do so." Napoleon knew 
his man, and decided not to take the risk. Bismarck was, 
however, diligently, though secretly, preparing himself for 
the war with France, which he knew must come. Every 



STATESMEN PRINCE BISMARCK. 



749 



portion of Eastern France was carefully and thoroughly 
mapped ; every bridge, road, forest, and house, was laid 
down — the depth and fordability of rivers at all points 
noted, the camping-grounds denned, and every particular 
which could be of service, was inscribed on the note-books. 
The army, under its new organization, was in splendid con- 
dition — the officers thoroughly drilled in military science, 
and highly intelligent, and the rank and file composed of 
men appropriately characterized as " the bayonets that 
think." It is not surprising, then, that when Eapoleon, 
who had long been seeking an opportunity for war with a 
power which he bitterly hated, insisted on making the 
offer of the Spanish crown to a Hohenzollern, his pretext, 
and though that offer was declined, declared war, he 
found, when it was too late, that the foe whom he had 
provoked, was easily his master ; nor that a little more 
than seven weeks from the declaration of war, found him 
a prisoner, and his armies annihilated. The subsequent 
conduct of the war, though highly creditable to the able 
French generals who took a part in it, could not atone 
for the errors of the beginning, and France found herself 
in March, 1871, compelled to make peace, with her armies 
defeated, her capital in the possession of the enemy y her 
sons slaughtered by hundreds of thousands, her territory 
alienated, and the payment of an indemnity of one thou- 
sand millions of dollars conceded. 

On the 18th of January, 1871, Count Von Bismarck 
had the satisfaction of seeing his king, William I. of 
Prussia, crowned in the ancient palace of Versailles, 
France, as Emperor of Germany. In the same month, he 
was appointed Chancellor of the German Empire, and in 
March following, raised to the rank of Prince. In Sep- 
tember, 1871, he was present at the memorable meeting 
of the German and Austrian Emperors at Gastein. 



750 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Prince Bismarck is not wont to forget either injuries 
or benefits. The Catholics of Bavaria, and the Catholics 
and Jesuits of other portions of the empire, and espe- 
cially of South Germany, had manifested their hatred of 
him, personally, and their hostility to his measures, in a 
variety of ways. It vras not, probably, from these causes 
so much, as from the conviction that the presence of the 
priests in large numbers in any country, boded no good 
to its institutions, and that all the clergy, of all denomi- 
nations, must in civil matters be obedient to the State, 
that he procured the passage of an act expelling the 
Jesuits from Germany (July 4, IS 72), and placing the 
Catholic higher clergy on the same basis of subordina- 
tion with those of other churches. He has been assailed 
with great bitterness for these acts, but deems it a suf- 
ficient reply, that they were necessary. He resigned the 
Presidency of the State Ministry, in December, 1872, but 
has since exercised its functions, at the command of the 
Emperor. In 1876, he resigned his office of Chancellor 
on account of his health, but the Emperor would not 
accept his resignation, and after an absence of some 
months, he returned to his duties. During the pendency 
of the present war, Prince Bismarck's course has been 
marked by great moderation. He joined in all measures 
which were taken to prevent the war, and though from 
race, personal preference, and political conviction, the 
friend of Russia, he has never manifested any partiality 
toward her in the present conflict. The French, and 
especially, the Ultramontane party in France, firmly be- 
lieve that Prince Bismarck is an incarnation of the 
Spirit of Evil, and that his sole study, night and day is, 
how he may best provoke another war with France. 
As a matter of fact, he has held back the German 
nation from war, during a year past ; he is too clear- 



STATESMEN WILLIAM EWAET GLADSTONE, D. C. L. 751 

sighted not to know that it must come, sooner or later ; 
but he has no desire to hasten it, or provoke it, and 
would prevent it entirely, were it in his power. 

WILLIAM EWAHT GLADSTONE, D. C. L. 

The Eight Honorable William Ewart Gladstone, late 
Premier of England, and First Lord of the Treasury, 
is one of the ablest statesmen of our times. He was 
born in Liverpool, December 29, 1809, and is the 
fourth son of the late Sir John Gladstone, Baronet, a 
Scottish merchant of Liverpool. He was educated at 
Eton and Christ Church College, Oxford, having been 
nominated a student of the latter in 1829, and graduated 
in 1831, taking, like Macaulay, a double first-class, at his 
examination in the Michaelmas term. He went immedi- 
ately to the Continent, made an extended tour, and in 
December, 1832, was elected to Parliament in the Conser- 
vative interest, for Newark. Sir Robert Peel, who was 
then Premier, had a quick eye for young men of sterling 
ability and good promise ; and Mr. Gladstone's mercan- 
tile origin, his extraordinary scholarship, his habits of 
business, and his high character, recommended him so 
strongly to the veteran statesman, that in December, 1834, 
when he was but twenty-five years of age, he appointed 
him to a junior Lordship of the Treasury, and three 
months later, made him Under Secretary of State for 
Colonial Affairs. In 1835 Sir Robert Peel resigned 
office, and Mr. Gladstone retired with his leader, and 
though a member of Parliament, did not hold office 
again until September, 1841, when Sir Robert, being 
again Premier, selected him as Vice-President of the 
Board of Trade, and Master of the Mint ; he was at the 
same time sworn a member of the Privy Council. In his 



752 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



new position, it was his duty to explain and defend, in 
the House of Commons, the commercial policy of the 
Government, and his early mercantile training and con- 
nections were of great service to him in this work. The 
revision of the English tariff in 1842, was almost entirely 
the product of his energy, industry, and intelligence. 
When this laborious work was brought before the 
House of Commons, it was found to be as admirably 
executed in its details, as it was complete in its mas- 
tery of general principles, and it received the sanction 
of both houses, with scarcely an alteration. The abil- 
ity manifested in this work, made him the fit succes- 
sor of the Earl of Ripon, as President of the Board of 
Trade, on the resignation of the Earl in 1843, but at 
the end of two years he resigned. In January, 1846, 
Sir Robert Peel announced his intention of proposing 
a modification of the Commercial laws — which was, vir- 
tually, an abandonment on his part of the Conservative 
party. Mr. Gladstone was at this time Secretary of 
State for the Colonies (succeeding the late Earl of Derby 
in that position) ; his views had undergone the same 
change with Sir Robert Peel's, but he was sitting in 
Parliament as the member from Newark, and that 
borough was under the control of the Duke of Newcastle, 
his life-long friend, but a very strong Conservative. "With 
that conscientiousness which has ever marked his career, 
Mr. Gladstone resigned his seat for Newark, and of 
course his cabinet position, and remained out of Parlia- 
ment for a year and a half rather than seem to mis- 
represent his friend's borough. In August, 1847, he was 
elected for the University of Oxford, as a moderate Con- 
servative. In the Parliament of 1847-1852, he was called 
to act on the questions of University Reform, and on the 
question of the removal of the Jewish Disabilities, on 



HON. W. E. GLADSTONE. 



753 



both of which he occupied rather the Liberal than the 
Conservative position, and on most other topics he found 
himself more in accord with the Whigs and Liberals than 
with their opponents. Avowing his convictions frankly, 
he resigned his seat in February, 1851, and appealed to 
his constituents in the following July. Their reverence 
for his honesty and manliness, and their desire to see the 
University represented by a man of such profound learn- 
ing and ability, led them to re-elect him, though not with- 
out a severe contest. In the u coalition" ministry, formed 
by the Earl of Aberdeen, in December, 1852, Mr. Glad- 
stone was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, an 
office for which his long experience in the Board of Trade 
eminently fitted him. His services in that position were 
of great value. In 1855, the Aberdeen ministry was par- 
tially broken up, and then reconstructed under Lord 
Palmerston. Mr. Gladstone held office for a few weeks 
under the new Premier, but then resigned, and for the 
next four years, though supporting Lord Palmerston's 
ministry in general, held no office. During the brief dura- 
tion of Earl Derby's second cabinet in 1858-9, Mr. 
Gladstone accepted a special mission to the Ionian Islands, 
to arrange certain difficulties which had arisen in the 
administration of the government, then under the pro- 
tection of Great Britain. In [June, 1859, when Lord 
Palmerston had resumed office, Mr. Gladstone was asrain 
Chancellor of the Exchequer. Daring his term of office, 
he was mainly instrumental in repealing the paper 
duty, and aided Mr. Cobden materially in the promotion 
of those negotiations, which culminated in the commercial 
treaty of 1860 between England and France. He pro- 
moted also University reform, in accordance with the 
views o? the ablest and most judicious of the University 
Commissioners ; his wide acquaintance with University 



754 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



men, and his thorough mastery of the whole subject, 
making him of great service. 

But this busy political and public life was not suffered 
to interfere with his studies or his literary pursuits. 
Some hours of every day were devoted to close and in- 
tent study, and the results appeared from time to time. 
For some years he published only works on Political and 
Politico-Economic subjects, such as "The State in its 
Eelations with the Church," 2 vols., 1838; "Church 
Principles Considered in their Results," 1841 ; " Remarks 
on Recent Commercial Legislation," 1845, etc. 

In 1851, after a visit to Naples, then under the rule of 
King Ferdinand (" Bomba "), he found that the Bourbon 
king was persecuting and imprisoning above 20,000 of 
his subjects, simply because they were opposed to some 
of his arbitrary measures. Having ascertained the facts, 
Mr. Gladstone addressed an indignant letter to the 
English Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs on the sub- 
ject of the State Prosecutions at Naples, which was 
translated into several foreign languages, and sent by 
Lord Palmerston to the several British ambassadors, with 
orders to forward copies of it to the several courts. This 
put an end to these persecutions. In 1858, he published 
an elaborate work on Homer, " Studies on Homer and 
the Homeric Age," 3 vols., which he has lately supple- 
mented by a translation of Homer's Iliad, and in 1869, 
by a work entitled, " Juventus Mundi : the Gods and 
Men of the Heroic Age." In later years, he has proved 
his right to be considered the ablest pamphleteer of his 
age, by numerous occasional works, which have produced 
a profound effect. 

In July, 1861, he was solicited to become a candidate 
in the Liberal interest, for South Lancashire, but refused 
to forsake his former constituents. At the general elec- 



HON. W. E. GLADSTONE. 



755 



tion in July, 1865, the old Conservative influences pre- 
vailed at Oxford, and Mr. Gladstone was returned to 
Parliament, by South Lancashire. After the death of 
Lord Palmerston, he became leader of the Liberal party 
in the House of Commons, retaining the Chancellorship 
of the Exchequer in Earl Bussell's second administration. 

Early in the Session of 1866, he brought in a Keform 
Bill, and a motion in committee having been carried, 
June 18, against the Government, by eleven votes, Mr. 
Gladstone and his colleagues resigned. Mr. Disraeli, 
with his usual audacity, immediately on coming into 
power, prepared a Reform Bill, very specious in its pro- 
fessions, though really much less advantageous to the 
working classes than Mr. Gladstone's, which he succeeded 
in forcing through against Mr. Gladstone's opposition. 

In the early part of the Session of 18B8, Mr. Gladstone 
brought forward, and passed through ths House of Com- 
mons, a series of resolutions, having for Vheir object the 
disestablishment and disendowment of th^ Irish Church. 
These resolutions were the basis of the Irish Church Sus- 
pensory Bill, which on the 22d of May, 1$68, was read 
a second time in the House of Commons, W 312 votes 
to 258, but in the House of Lords was afterward re- 
jected by a majority of 95. At the general flection of 
1868, Mr. Gladstone was defeated, after a fierce contest, 
in South Lancashire, but was elected by a largeVnajority 
from Greenwich, which he still represents. \ 

On the resignation of Mr. Disraeli's ministry in 
December, 1868, Mr. Gladstone became First L> rd of 
the Treasury and Premier. He held office for nearW five 
and a half years, and in that time he caused the\ pas- 
sage of a greater number of important acts, than any of 
his predecessors had done. His first important measire 
was the Irish Disestablishment Act, in which he irci- 



756 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



dentally effected a triumph which had never been at- 
tempted but once before. The bill was popular in the 
House of Commons, and passed by a large majority 
there, but the House of Lords resolved to kill it, as they 
had done in Mr. Disraeli's administration; they soon 
found, however, that the great commoner, now at the 
head of the government, was not disposed to accept de- 
feat from their hands. They were informed very coolly, 
through the cabinet minister in the House of Lords, that 
they could take their choice ; either they might retrace 
their steps, and vote for the measure in sufficient num- 
bers to pass it, or a sufficient number of new peers would 
be created to make its passage certain. They chose the 
former alternative, and in so doing, effectually surren- 
dered their power. The step was perhaps a wise one, 
for already, Radical members of the House of Commons 
were proposing the disestablishment of tjie House of 
Lords. Mr. Gladstone also carried, through both houses, 
the Irish Land Act ; the Ballot Act (for the use of the 
secret ballot at elections), and the Judicature Act, re- 
organizing several important courts. He gained another 
triumph ovar the House of Lords, who, sore at their 
former defeat, refused to pass the Army Regulation 
Bill, whicl prohibited the sale of army commissions to 
individuals, by army officers (a course which was ruining 
the arnr) ; Mr. Gladstone, without deigning to remon- 
strate vith the Lords on their refusal, immediately pro- 
ceeded to abolish the purchase of commission sin the 
army, by the exercise of the royal prerogative, a step 
whicl, though perfectly constitutional, had not been at- 
tempted before for nearly two hundred years. It is 
neelless to say, that he had no further trouble with the 
Hfuse of Lords. 
He also negotiated the treaty of Washington, respect- 



HON. W. E\ GLADSTONE. 



757 



ing the Alabama claims. la 1873, tlie most important 
measure proposed by the government, was the Irish 
University Education Bill, which was opposed, both by 
the Conservatives and the Roman Catholic members, and 
was lost in the House of Commons by 287 votes against 
284. Mr. Gladstone tendered his resignation, but his op- 
ponent, Mr. Disraeli, declined to take office, and Mr. 
Gladstone, with great reluctance, undertook to recon- 
struct the cabinet. In the new cabinet, he filled the 
office of Chancellor of the Exchequer, and First Lord of 
the Treasury, as well as the Premiership. 

The next winter, two weeks before the commence- 
ment of the session, Mr. Gladstone announced the disso- 
lution of Parliament and a new election. In this elec- 
tion, the Conservatives had a clear majority of 49, and 
Mr. Gladstone immediately resigned, and Mr. Disraeli 
became a second time Prime Minister. 

In 1874, he was rarely in his place in the House of 
Commons, but toward the close of the session, opposed 
very strongly, the Public Worship Regulation Bill, which 
nevertheless became an act. In January, 1875, Mr. Glad- 
stone announced his determination to retire from the 
leadership of the Liberal party. "At the age of sixty- 
five," he said in his letter to Earl Granville, " and after 
forty-two years of laborious public life, I think myself 
entitled to. retire on the present opportunity. This re- 
tirement is dictated to me by my personal views, as to 
the best method of spending the closing years of my 
life." The Marquis of Hartington was soon after chosen 
by the Liberal party as their leader in the House of 
Commons, but is far from possessing Mr. Gladstone's 
ability vr tact. It seems to be evident, indeed, that the 
power and influence of leadership, and very possibly the \ 
position of Premier, must ere long be forced again upon \ 



758 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Mr. Gladstone. The Liberals have no man who is his 
equal inability and integrity and in the prospect that 
the scepter will soon pass from the hands of the Earl of 
Beaconsfield, no other man can rally aronnd him so 
strong a following as Mr. Gladstone. 

Mr. Gladstone's retirement from office has not made 
him indolent. His mental activity was perhaps never 
greater than now. Even while he was occupied with 
his official duties, he found time to write the very 
thoughtful and able little work, " Ecce Homo," and to 
publish, as already noticed, his " Juventus Mundi." He 
also wrote a vigorous pamphlet on the Irish Church 
question, entitled, " A Chapter of Autobiography." 

In October, 1874, an article from his pen appeared 
in the Contemporary Review, on " Ritualism," in which 
he asserted, that "Rome had substituted for the proud 
boast of semper eadem, a policy of violence and 
change in faith," that she "had refurbished and pa- 
raded anew, every rusty tool she was fondly thought 
to have disused," that " no one could become her con- 
vert, without renouncing his moral and mental freedom, 
and placing his civil loyalty and duty at the mercy 
of another," and that " she had equally repudiated 
modern thought, and ancient history." The Romanists 
were furious at these charges, coming from such a source, 
and they demanded on all sides, that he should substan- 
tiate his charges or retract them. Mr. Gladstone pres- 
ently proceeded to substantiate them, in a bulky pam- 
phlet, entitled " The Vatican Decrees in their bearing 
on Civil Allegiance; a political expostulation." This 
was published November 7, 1874. To this pamphlet 
replies were made by Monsignor Capel, Dr. W. H. New- 
man, Archbishop (now Cardinal) Manning, and others. 
To these replies, Mr. Gladstone rejoined February 24, 



HON. W. E. GLADSTONE. 



753 



1875, by another pamphlet, entitled "Vaticanism: an 
answer to Replies and Reproofs," and in the January 
number of the Quarterly Review, published an article 
on " The Speeches of Pius IX." The judgment of fair 
and unprejudiced men, seems to be, that Mr. Gladstone 
has the advantage of his antagonists in the controversy. 
A letter of Mr. Gladstone to our late Minister at the 
Court of St. James, Hon. W. E. Schenck, which, though 
bearing date November 28, 1872, was first published in 
Harper's Monthly for December, 1876. In that letter, 
he defends himself with great ability and very copious 
proofs, from the charge of unfriendliness to this country 
during the late civil war. 

The outrages inflicted by the Turks upon the peas- 
ants of Bosnia, the Herzegovina, and Bulgaria, roused Mr. 
Gladstone's indignation to fever heat. In Parliament, 
he was energetic in his denunciation of the ministry for 
their attempts to conceal or palliate these crimes, and 
for their evident sympathy with the Turks, and hostility 
to Russia. On the 5th of September, 1876, he pub- 
lished a pamphlet entitled, "The Turco-Servian War: 
Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East." This 
pamphlet was written with all the earnestness of his 
nature, and it roused a spirit of indignation in England, 
which followed up, as it was, by the letters and pam- 
phlets of Professor Freeman, Mr. Carlyle, and others, 
and the speeches of Mr. Gladstone, John Bright, and 
other leading men among the Liberals, and the action of 
Parliament, effectually checked the audacity of the Earl 
of Beaconsfield, and has forstalled, thus far at least, his 
efforts to force England into the war. 

Mr. Gladstone has the reputation of being the most 
effective orator in the present House of Commons. Elo- 
quence is not at a high premium there; but if he speaks 



760 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



half as well as lie writes, his speeches certainly have the 
merit of great clearness, system, and that energy and 
forcefulness, which is, in its best sense, eloquence. 

Mr. Gladstone is too earnest and positive in his denun- 
ciation of what he deems wrong, not to have made for 
himself many enemies; but even the worst of thein, 
would not dare to say, that he had ever been influenced 
by base or sinister motives, or that he had ever been 
guilty of a mean, insincere, or dishonest act. He is an 
Englishman of the very best type, not free from faults 
of dogmatism, impulsiveness, and perhaps bitterness; 
but a thoroughly manly, whole-hearted, and generous 
gentleman. 

In the reforms which are to come to Great Britain in 
the near future, reforms which shall make the outward 
structure of her institutions correspond more nearly to 
their inward spirit, and which shall banish from them 
all remains of bigotry and intolerance, it would be a 
great blessing to England, if she could have the guiding 
hand of William Ewart Gladstone, to pilot her in safety 
through the stormy seas of political strife. 



III. MILITARY AND NAVAL CHIEFTAINS. 



NICHOLAS NICOLAIVITCH, 

Grand Duke of Russia, Commander-in-Chief of the Rus- 
sian army in Europe, is a younger son of the late Empe- 
ror Nicholas, born July 27 (Old Style), August 8 (New 
Style), 1831. He married, January 25 — (February 6), 
1856, Alexandra, Princess of Oldenberg, and has two sons, 
Nicholas and Peter. The preference of the Grand Duke 
was early developed for a military life, and he has en- 
joyed every possible advantage of military instruction, 
and is regarded as a skillful and accomplished soldier. It 
is said that in the plans of the present war, serious dif- 
ferences of views have occurred between him and his 
Chief of Staff, and that, being unable to come to an 
agreement, they have referred their respective plans to 
the arbitrament of the Czar, who has visited the camps 
on the Danube to decide the questions involved, more 
satisfactorily. The Grand Duke is about forty-six years 
of age, a vigorous, strongly made, muscular, soldierly- 
looking man, with a characteristic Romanoff face, in 
which his brother's melancholy and sadness, occasionally 
shows itself. He is General of Engineers, Aid-de-camp 
General to the Emperor, Inspector-General of the Engi- 
neer Corps, of the Imperial Guard, and of the Cavalry, 
Commander-in-Chief of the Military District of St. 
Petersburg, President of the Supreme Committee on the 
Organization and Instruction of the Army, Chief of a 
Grena'dier Regiment, of the Regiments of Dragoons of 
Astrachan, of the Alexander Hussars, and of the First 

761 



7G2 



THE CONQUEST OF TUEKEY. 



Battalion of Sappers of the Caucasus, Proprietor (Colo- 
nel-in-Chief) of the Austrian Hussars No. 2, and Chief 
of the 5th Regiment of Prussian Cuirassiers. 

As Commander-in-Chief in the late war, the Grand 
Duke has not, it must be admitted, shown a high type of 
military genius, but he has displayed the noblest quality 
of self-abnegation : when he realized that he could not take 
Plevna, he not only consented to, but advised, the call to the 
front of the venerable Todleben, who he felt could, and 
permitted others to win and wear the laurels of the victory 
that was to be decisive of the war. 



GENERAL TCHERNAIEFF 

is a Russian officer, of good family, and of very thorough 
military training. He commanded one army corps of the 
Russian army, which was engaged in the Khivan Avar, 
and attained some distinction there for military ability. 
For some cause, he left the Russian army in 1875 (some 
reports say that he was cashiered), and in 1876, made his 
appearance in Servia, where he was soon placed in com- 
mand of the Servian troops. Whether from want of 
training and discipline on the part of the troops, or lack 
of strategic skill on the part of the commander, the whole 
campaign was a disastrous and disgraceful one. The 
Turkish commander, who was not a man of conspicuous 
ability, was able to walk over the fields almost without 
serious resistance. The Servians have the reputation 
of being brave and resolute — certainly their brethren 
of Montenegro are so — and we can hardly come to any 
other conclusion, than that their commander was, at least, 
partially in fault. He has not been heard from in the 
present war. 



GRAND DUFE NICHOLAS. COMMANDER OF THE RUSSIAN FORCES. 



MILITARY CHIEFTAINS ADMIRAL HOBART PASHA. 767 



HOBART PASHA, 

Commander of the Turkish fleets in the Black Sea 
and Mediterranean, is an Englishman by birth, being 
the second son of the (sixth) Earl of Buckingham- 
shire. The Hon. Augustus Charles Hobart was born 
in 1823; and, in 1836, entered the Royal Navy, dis- 
tinguishing himself even while a midshipman, by his 
zeal, in command of men-of-war's boats, in the suppres- 
sion of the slave-trade in Brazilian waters. As a reward 
for these services he was, in 1845, appointed to the Queen's 
yacht, on which he served two years. During the Cri- 
mean war he commanded H. M. S. Driver, in the Baltic, 
and was highly commended in official dispatches for gal- 
lant conduct at the capture of Bomarsund and the attack 
on Abo. In 1862, he was retired from the British navy, as 
post-captain, on half-pay; and, until 1865, commanded a 
blockade-runner on the North Carolina coast, keeping 
open communications with the Confederate States during 
the war of the American rebellion. His adventures 
were published in a book written by him under the 
name of "Captain Boberts." On the breaking out of the 
Cretan war, 186", he entered the Turkish navy, and 
was given the charge of the squadron blockading the 
coasts of that island, with special directions to prevent 
the operations of Greek blockade-runners, a business for 
which his own experience in blockade-running had emin- 
ently qualified him. For his judicious conduct of this 
duty, as well as for the tact with which he conducted 
certain negotiations off Syra, in the interests of general 
peace, he received distinguished honor and decorations 
from tne Austrian, French, and Turkish governments. 
On his return to Constantinople, the Sultan created him 



768 



THE CONQUEST OF TURKEY. 



Pasha, with the rank of full admiral. In June. 1871, by 
permission of the Queen, he was allowed to accept, from 
the Sultan, the insignia of the second class of the Im- 
perial Order of the Medjidie. Shortly after, the Greek 
government called the attention of the British govern- 
ment to the fact that, though in command of the Turkish 
navy, Hobart Pasha was still on the British Navy List ; 
and his name was accordingly stricken off the rolls by the 
Lords of the Admiralty. In 1874, however, Hobart Pasha 
appealed to Lord Derby, the then Premier of England, 
for re-instatement — urging his undoubted services to the 
cause of humanity, during the Cretan war ; his excellent 
personal and professional reputation in Europe ; the fact 
that the organization of the Turkish navy, and the estab- 
lishment of its naval schools, training and gunnery ships 
were due to his efforts, etc. This ajypeal was supported 
by Lord Derby " as a matter of Imperial policy," and he 
was, therefore, again placed by the Admiralty on the 
retired list of the British navy, with the opportunity of 
rising, by seniority, to the rank of retired Admiral. But 
on the outbreak of the war between Russia and Turkey, 
the protest of the English Liberals was so decided against 
his being longer retained on the Navy rolls, that Lord 
Beaconsfield was compelled to direct the Lords of the 
Admiralty to give him his choice to resign his connection 
with the Turkish navy, or submit to be again stricken 
from the rolls of the British navy. He chose the latter. 
On the 29th of April, 1877, in command of his flagship, 
the Ketliymo, he ran the Russian batteries at Galatz, 
under fire, and safely passed into the Black Sea. He has 
signalized his return to the Black Sea by bombarding 
Poti, and many of the other towns belonging to Russia 
on the north and northeast coast of that sea, and has 
threatened Odessa. 



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